hannahseatosea

Marathons, Cows and Funny Old Ladies

2010-05-13T22:31:00.000-07:00

Even since I was a kid, I’ve had the desire to get in a car with a full gas tank and then see how far it would go until it ran out of gas. I know that this would be an incredibly senseless, absolutely idiotic, and completely inappropriate act of ultimate stupidity. But it sure would be fun! However being the sensible person that I am, (ha ha) I doubt I would ever do anything to that extent without a qualified professional at my side (and I’m not talking about the type that says things like “hey hold my beer and watch this!”) Since I can’t safely do this, I have decided instead to run a marathon. Made the connection? Although we marathoners don’t really want to admit it, it’s basically the same type of idea. You start out with a full tank of “gas”, and you see how far that gets you. For me I hope that’s the full 26.2 (43.3K for all you Aussies) miles. I have decided to do the Great Ocean Road marathon in Australia which will take place in less than….. 2 days! I’ve done the training these past couple of months and will see if I have enough “gas” to finish it. So wish me luck!

Other than training for marathons’ I’ve been pretty busy. Since I’ve last written in here (it’s been ages) I’ve been back to Texas to visit. I knew immediately that I was home when I heard things like, Ma’m, Sir, Mr. and Mrs. It felt even more like home when I began to hear phrases like, “man you should really try these fried green beans because they’re amazing”, “now Hannah if this cow charges you don’t worry because you just run and I’ll put my hand on her head to stop her (my dad), and “I made bacon cookies!” It was great to hear the Texas accent again, shoot guns, ride 4-wheelers, go to my church, have Mexican food and buy things that were under $5. The most exciting and surprising was probably going to the nursing home. Seriously! I went to visit my lady nursing home friend back in my college town. But she wasn’t in her room and her name tag had been removed from the door. Uh oh. Seeing these types of things make one awfully nervous in a nursing home. However, I breathed a sigh of relief when I was told that she had switched rooms. When I found her sitting in her room I was surprised that her roommate was a man. Upon further inspection I realized that this man was my other nursing home friend I used to visit. Then I saw her give a big smile and utter the words “we done went and got married!” And she’s 93! Then she proceeded to show me photos of their wedding. It was the sweetest thing! I was incredibly happy for them and it was amazing to see the positive change in both of their moods. It was also slightly funny with phrases like “We don’t fight b/c I do what she tells me too and I’m scared of her” or “well he had another lover but…….she died!” It was great to see my family, friends and of course Stephen but it went incredibly fast. And I never saw one single person as much as I wanted to! I spent three weeks at home. This means that I was jest lagged a total of five weeks! As soon as I got used to being home, I got on an airplane (23+hours) and flew back to Australia where it took me another 2 weeks to recover. It was bearable due to the fact that I absolutely love flying. I love airports, layovers and the long 16+ hour flights. You meet so many neat people and what other time are you able to sit down for 16 hours with nothing required of you but to read a book or watch a movie? And you don’t even have to get up to get your food because people bring it to you. I love it! I had a 6 hour layover in L.A Airport but I loved every minute of it (except for whenever I almost tripped over my chair)

I’m still at “uni” and I enjoy what I’m learning. Uni is the name Australians call college because they call high school college so it can get quite confusing. On Wednesdays I have a 6 hour Christian theology class! 6 hours! When I first heard about having to sit in class for 6 hours I wasn’t exactly happy. However, over the weeks this class has become one of my favorite classes I’ve ever taken and I actually look forward to Wednesdays. The Christian theology here is so much more liberal than back home and I have some issues agreeing with the professors about particular things. But I still enjoy looking at different sides of an issue and it’s been great to learn about. I would be more at ease if the professor wasn’t always making negative comments about those “Southern Baptists from Texas”. He has no idea that this is where I come from. I also have one class that I find hilarious because when I look around I find that I’m an American, at an Australian college, surrounded by majority Asian students, listening to a Germen talk about British Christian Theology. Talk about culture exposure! By the time that I’m done with all my college courses I should have an Associate’s degree in ministry. I’m not too sure what I’ll do with that back in the states but who knows where God will lead?!

The youth ministry stuff at the church is going great! I finally feel completely at home with everyone at the church. They’re like my family away from home. The thing that really took off these past few months is something I started a while back called “girls group” (mainly because my creative juices weren’t flowing when I created the name). It is…. well you guessed it…. a group for girls! It started out 8 months ago as a failed attempt to get kids from a non church background to come to my meeting. I was in charge of it and expected over 20, maybe 30 youth to come to the initial get together. I had all this stuff set up and all these games prepared. I was pretty excited and nervous about it but only 2 girls from the church came. I did my best to stay positive although I was honestly a bit discouraged. Actually quite a bit. Something kept telling me to just continue with the group although there were only 2 people doing it. Well it wasn’t something but someone and more specifically God. Long story short I decided to just make it a group for girls where we cook, study the bible and have fun. Then they started inviting their friends and now it’s grown quite a bit but more importantly there have been some of the best relationships formed with myself, each other and most notably God. It’s been so great getting to know all the girls. Girls from a non-church background started to come and it’s been amazing to see their curiosity and growth. It’s awesome what God’s doing there and splendid the way it arose out of an apparent disappointment. I think that’s sometimes like life and the way God works. He has a lot of neat plans but a lot of times it isn’t exactly the way we think it’s going to go. In fact it hardly ever it. We just need to remember that and keep plodding along in the midst of seemingly obvious “set backs” to see what happens! If there’s any doubt over God’s power I think all you need to do is look at stuff like this, where you have ill-equipped leaders (speaking of myself. I’ve never even so much as led a mini small group before plus I typically burn all the food we cook), bad circumstances, and set backs all around. Anybody with a brain can see that it’s an obvious fail but somehow, and it still amazes me, it all works out and big things happen.

Funny thing of the week: The following is a conversation I had with a lady at the fruit shop I work in.

Mother: Oh you have such a different accent where are you from? (every other customer asks me this)
Me: Texas
Mother: Oh that’s nice. My son was born there.
Me: Oh really! Wow! And have you ever made it there yourself!

Epic fail. BTW this happening actually made it in the daily Australian newspaper in a section titled “Overheard” where people write in to report all the dumb funny stuff that they overheard people say that say. So I’m famous b/c I made it in a newspaper!

Falling out of planes and Australian sponge cake

2010-01-24T20:49:00.000-08:00

If someone told me that exactly 6 months after entering the country of Australia I would be jumping out of a perfectly good airplane, plummeting to the earth at 150 mph, depending on a mere piece of material to open up at the right time and stop me from hitting the ground, then I would have probably said, “stop this planet now. I want off!” While, admittedly, this might have been my thoughts as the plane slowly gained the elevation that would take us to our so called “destination” of nothingness in the sky, it wasn’t my overall thought and most certainly not the summary of this experience. The best description of how I felt about my overall experience with skydiving is a bit less complex and is more like this: “ahhh ahhh Aaaaaahhhhhhhhahhahhah ah ha hah ha **** ahhhhh jfdkjfkdfj.” So in short it was amazing, terrifying, amazingly terrifying and extremely fun. However, after all these descriptions the only thing I could manage to think when I finally touched ground was “I’m glad my parachute opened”. The fact that I decided to skydive is showing me how much this whole experience of living in Australia is changing me (and hopefully for the better). The main thing that has happened during the course of this 6 month experience has been that I’m less afraid to try new things (within reason and morality of course). I’ve done a lot of things that I would have been too terrified to do before and it’s all worked out just fine. So when I decided to get my boyfriend Stephen a skydiving gift certificate for Christmas (it’s something he’s always wanted to do) I had no intention to join him by jumping out of a perfectly good plane. Yet the thought that I was going to sit on the sidelines and watch started to slowly creep in until I couldn’t take it anymore. Although the idea terrified me I wanted to go too! I couldn’t just stand around and watch while he had all the fun so I worked a few extra shifts and bought myself one too. But I have to admit that giving him the present was probably the best part. I made a “gift certificate” with a picture of us both jumping out of the plane but my little stick figure didn’t have a parachute and therefore wasn’t looking too happy. He had no idea and was like “is this for real?” “Yes Stephen but hopefully I’ll have a parachute in the real thing.” Probably the most fun I’ve ever had giving somebody a gift. Well…. I went skydiving but unfortunately didn’t go rocky mountain climbin’ or 2.7 seconds on a bull named “Phu Mon Shoe”.

Other than skydiving we were able to do many other neat things during his brief stay here. For one we got to experience Christmas Australia style. If somebody told me last Christmas that I would be spending next Christmas in Australia with my Texas boyfriend going to my South African friend’s house for lunch, then having Christmas dinner with New Zealanders, while only actually spending it with one Australian in the whole bunch then I would have laughed. But that’s what happened! Momma’s always said that life is stranger than fiction (as well as a box of chocolates. He he) and now I believe her. Life is weird.

The way Australians celebrate Christmas is a bit different than what I’m familiar to but if I were to describe it all on here then we’d be here all day. For one thing, on Christmas day in Australia, every member in the family isn’t compelled to bring 5 different dishes of food for everyone to eat just in case they run the risk of starving. As we all know Texas Christmas’s are a different story. I remember my dear great grandmother saying “do you think we need to open a can of spam” when she saw a centimeter of free space on the table. In Australia, we had some meat, a side or two, and a dessert. This is really all that you need and it most certainly keeps you from gaining 5 pounds (or kilos) during one single meal! However, the dessert we had was a bit interesting. Apparently, eating sponge cake that has been soaked in an overabundance of liquor overnight is quite a Christmas tradition in Australia. I have to admit it had quite an interesting taste but I don’t remember much after that. Just kidding :)

Other than our highly unusual but fun Christmas experience Stephen and I also had an interesting New Years experience. We went into the city to watch the big firework show. However, we ended up walking around the city in the pouring rain; cold, wet and lost. And having the best time! Absolutely nothing worked out according to plan but we were too busy laughing at the situation going from bad to kinda bad to worse that we didn’t even care. We just had fun. In a nut shell we got lost in a building and couldn’t find our way out for nearly 40 minutes amidst a crowd of crazy intoxicated people, got out and realized that it was pouring down rain, got lost outside and missed our tram stop by 100 miles, ate french fries under a tram stop in place of our planed nice dinner, missed the fireworks because the trains left right before the show, and witnessed a domestic on the streets (the man bit the women!). To make matters worse the streets were so crowded with crazy people we could hardly walk. New Years in Melbourne, Australia!

Honestly, Australia seems to be full of weird, scary people that tend to make themselves known around the holidays. Other than witnessing the domestic, Stephen and I encountered a seemingly high number of bizarre people who were a bit scary at times. This might be due to the fact that we used public transport almost everyday. However, it seemed like rarely a day went by that we didn’t witness something alarming or slightly disturbing. The biggest scare came when we decided to go hiking in the Australian mountain ranges. We got on the train to go home and noticed that aside from 2 other men, nobody else was on the train with us. We were still waiting on the train to leave the station when out of nowhere this big, scary looking man gets out and starts yelling at me and Stephen. All his attention was directed at us. He had the craziest eyes! I can’t remember everything he said but he kept telling us that we “were one person who split into 2 people”. I’m serious. Apparently he witnessed Stephen grow a beard out of nowhere. I thought he said something about us being the descendents of Cain and how God will judge us because we are evil. Oh and Jesus has come back and is sitting on Uluru rock in Australia. He just kept yelling at us until he finally walked off. Whew! Then he got back on and continued to yell at us while the other 2 men are just sitting there. He finally sat down and tried to have a nice friendly chat with one of the men on the train. It got completely silent until he looked at us and said “I don’t feel safe with these 2 evil people in here (meaning us!). I’m leaving.” Yeah it was a bit weird but I’m glad nothing happened. For the most part, Australians are nice, friendly, obliging down-to-earth folks who have welcomed me into their lives quite easily. However, you do get a few crazies here and there that have helped me decide that I’m not riding the trains at night anymore.

Many other exciting things have gone on since I’ve last written but if I tell it all then nobody would want to read this! I’ll try to update more often so I won’t have to cram it all in here. Thanks for all your support in reading this!

Merry Christmas!!!

2009-12-24T16:31:00.000-08:00

For the past few weeks I’ve been wondering what that something is that’s keeping me from getting into the Christmas spirit. Then I realized it’s not a specific something but a lack of. No Christmas lights! No Christmas music on the radio stations! No overabundance of high fat packed Christmas desserts! And…… no fat Santa’s! Not to mention I have a sunburn. And I’m sleeping in a 94 degree house (only once or twice) Hot houses and a blaringly hot sun are not the first few things that come to mind when one thinks of Christmas. But as somebody famous once said, I don’t think I’m in Kansas anymore. Or Texas. However, with Christmas only one day away I think I’m finally getting into it and I’m ready. I’m pretty excited to experience Christmas in Australia. Even without the proper amount of Christmas lights I still find it great. Just yesterday we went to a huge Christmas concert in Melbourne were all the famous Australian singers performed. It was great fun except for the fact that we had to wait in line for two hours during the hottest part of the day just to get in. The sun never gave us a break and it was absolutely the hottest, craziest, most resilient sun I’ve ever experienced. We walked right by a girl who had passed out ahead of us from heat exhaustion. Then the other day the youth and I went all around to different nursing homes and got to sing Christmas carols. In short, I’m ready for Christmas! Oh and the best thing about Christmas in Australia is that it comes a day earlier!

One great thing about the hot weather here is that I can finally go swim in the ocean. Unfortunately the ocean harbors many sea creatures that are not my friend. Especially the Australian ocean. I learned this the hard way. A few days ago a friend and I wanted to see how far we could swim in the ocean even though the waves were really bad that day. Normally the water is almost crystal clear which make it great for spotting the sea creatures that I would like to avoid. However, since it was very wavy that day we were not able to see any of those unfavorable water villains. Then I got stung by a jellyfish, caught a cramp, started panicking, and kept choking on the waves. I eventually regained my composure and swam the 10 minutes back to shore. I think that’s how people drown. Why is it that the first time I go swimming in the Australian ocean I get stung by a jellyfish whenever my friends here have been swimming for all their lives and have never gotten stung? Good thing I can swim with one leg. Ha!

The other day I had to do a “children’s talk” in front of church which consisted of getting in front of the church and talking to the kids during the Sunday morning service. It would have been great except for the fact that I got silent stares whenever I asked them questions. Tough crowd. I wrapped up a plastic baby Jesus and then told them that the best present God ever gave us was under the wrapping paper. Upon opening it they just stared at it. Then I was like “a plastic doll! God gave us all a big plastic doll for the entire world to have! How exciting!” Of course I explained everything later but I couldn’t resist.

Not too much else has gone on except for work, Christmas shopping, babysitting, teaching RE and youth stuff. All youth programs are officially over for a whole month. Stephen will be here tomorrow so I have a feeling I might not be writing in my blog as much. Sorry! I’ll do my best though. The church just hired a new, official youth minister. It’s a great thing because we’ve needed one for a long time. So it’s been a big prayer answer for the church. Other than that I’m just ready for Christmas tomorrow with friends and….. friends! Merry Christmas!

Funny Moment of the Month: I had to do a sermon a few weeks ago in front of the church. It all went well except for the barrier in communication that sometimes happens. One of the points I was trying to make was that Jesus was so perfect that when you think of a dart board he would be in the "center". His example is hard to follow much like hitting the center of the dart board. It's almost impossible at times. This was all great and fine except for the fact that throughout most of the service everyone thought I kept saying that Jesus was the "sinner". "Everybody Jesus it the sinner. We can't ever be like him." Eventually they got it and we all had a good ol' laugh afterwards.

Read this

2009-12-04T20:44:00.000-08:00

Well it’s been quite a while since I’ve written. The excuse I’m going to use this time is that I was savagely attacked by a wild Australian animal and was near death in the uncomfortable hospital bed with both my hands and feet rendered useless making me completely inept to write a single ingenious word on my blog. But… that’s not true. In reality, I’ve just been busy. It’s a much less exciting excuse but nevertheless true. The hospital bed was comfortable and the animal wasn’t wild. JK

Anyhow much has gone on since my last posting. Gentle spring has become hot, dry crazy summer which is solely to blame for all the sunburns I have had the pleasure of receiving. Flys and mosquitoes quite enjoy my company and on occasion thrill me with an impromptu visit to my room, and upon finding it quite cozy decide to grace me with their presence all night. Thanks to the food packages I’ve received in the mail (thanks Shelia and Jesse!), the American food store by my house and mom loading her whole suitcase up with food I’ve had many opportunities to cook good ol’ Texas food for all the people here. Most of my cooking has not ended up in disaster but there’s always those few times. Yet, most of these people have never tasted that type of food before so I can always say “hey this is how it’s supposed to taste”. “Um… it’s just an acquired taste”. Except for the time when I attempted to cook hushpuppies for the youth. I got the oil way to hot, put the dough in, and immediately the entire church filled up with smoke smelling of burnt hushpuppy. There was to be a wedding ceremony the next day. Ugh. Just blame the American.

Mom came to visit me for two whole weeks! We both had such a great time. Except when I made her hike up a “mountain” that led us to the wrong place and then tried to correct it by making her take a shortcut in the snake infested woods. Or when she went on a bike ride with me and came back unable to sit. Or when she had to walk 2 miles back home with just one flip flop. Or when we got super sun burned at the beach. Or when I yelled at her for missing the train because she didn’t run fast enough. Just a dandy ol’ time. But it really was. We got to go to the zoo, the beach, a day hike in the Australian wilderness, the $17 movies, the huge mall (2nd biggest in the southern hemisphere), the Victorian markets, Wine tasting, Melbourne Christmas parade and heaps of other places. It was hilarious how shocked mom was whenever the youth continually referred to her as “Kristi” instead of Mrs. Wagley. It was such a great experience taking my mom around Australia and showing her all of my favorite places. Oh and she got to see my “sermon” in church at the young people’s service. I told them I would talk for the service but 2 weeks leading up to that I began to get extremely nervous. I had to talk for a whole 30 minutes! But I’m glad mom was there because she helped me with what I was going to say and got to see it all. I’m very blessed because we made great memories and will always go back to that time we were in Australia together. It’s not every day you get to show off Australia to your mom and show your mom off to the Australians (“oh Hannah she looks like she could be your sister?”)

Since mom has been gone I’ve had a lot of down time. All the youth programs are coming to an end for the summer holidays so there will be a while when I won’t have any youth events to help out with. During the holidays the only thing going on in the church is the Sunday morning service. All other programs are put on break. It’s really strange. The past few months I’ve been extremely busy and now that I have more time I’m lost. A lot of the youth and their families go away during this break so it won’t be until the end of January when I see them again. What will I do with all the youth gone? Well, I won’t have to dress up in a koala suite for church anymore (yes I had to do that. It’s a youth thing). I won’t have to be manager for the under 16 boys basketball team while being continually asked if I’m dating one of the players (do I really look that young?). I won’t be burning hushpuppies. I won’t be told that my accent sounds just like a Canadian accent. I won’t have to do skits up in front of church. And I won’t be continually asked by the youth what a Twinkie is. I’ll miss them. But Stephen will come to visit quite soon. And guess when he’ll get here? Christmas day! That certainly gives the “All I want for Christmas” song new, heightened meaning. He’ll be here from the 25th to January 13th. So we’ll try to do a bit a traveling and site seeing.

Funny experience of the month: I teach RE to 3rd graders a few times a weeks. RE stands for Religious Education and in Austria the school system allows the church to come in and tell the kids about Jesus. Well the other day I held up a drawing of Jesus. It was obviously supposed to be Jesus. I then asked the class who they thought this man was. They quickly and confidently replied, “Your daddy!”

Thanks everyone for your support. And thanks to all of y’all who sent me many kind words and food in the mail. It’s all very much appreciated.

Crazy Aussies

2009-10-22T20:52:00.000-07:00

Total months here: 4
Months to go: 8
Total Magpie attacks: 11
Total Jokes I didn't Get: 5

I have decided to devote this blog to some of the seemingy crazy things I’ve discovered about Australia. Things that will probably seem bizarre to an American but completely normal to an Australian. However, my disclaimer before delving into some of these absurdities is the fact that I think Australia is great and am in no way trying to “bag” (as Aussies say) Australian culture. I’m merly pointing out the differences and lightly poking fun of some of their craziness. I would expect nothing less of them to do the same to me. They’re doing a pretty good job at it.

First up is summer in Australia: I’m a little concerned about the upcoming summer here in Australia. Actually the word little is an understatement. Let me explain: In Texas, I’d say 90% of people have an air conditioner of some sort. In Australia only about 40% of people have air conditioner. Unfortunately, the house I live in isn’t in that lucky percent. This doesn’t mean Australia is any cooler in the summer than Texas. In fact, believe it or not, Australia is hotter. Melbourne got up to 117 last summer. And I can not figure out why, for the life of me, Australians don’t just go out and buy an air conditioner. Yet, they are quite environment friendly and many believe that an air conditioner would have a negative effect on the environment. I’ve noticed that instead of running the air conditioner in the car, the majority of Aussies will just open their window instead. But to be honest, when I’m in bed at night sweating my butt off in 110 degree weather the environment is the last thing on my mind. And that’s exactly how hot it gets inside. Karen, my host, said that last year it got up to 45 degree Celsius inside our house. This didn’t mean much to me when she said this number but I later converted the number and found that it is 113 degrees! Inside the house! 113 degrees! How do you not die? This is absolutely mind boggling to me and I have no idea how I will ever get through the heat of this summer. I’ve come to the conclusion that Aussies are either A.) Crazy or B.) Tough. My hosts told me, in an annoying nonchalant manner, that due to the heat there will just be nights that I won’t sleep because I can’t. Joy. In fact, the schools don’t even have air conditioner. It is a government rule in Australia that when it gets over 95 degrees inside the school they must let it out early for the health of the kids. I’m thinking snow days would be much more preferable.

During the summer at night many Aussies leave their windows and even doors open in hope of catching the tiniest amount of breeze to ease them into a semi sleep. As you can imagine, this brings up a new set of problems: robbers. It’s quite common in the summer months for robbers to come inside and take things. They aren’t being deterred in any sense because in Australia robbers can sue the house owner if the owner injures the robber in any way whatsoever. There have been many cases of this. My host has advised me to leave the house if a thief comes in because I could get in serious trouble if I injure him/her. I can’t even begin to describe how absolutely crazy this is. In Texas was have the castle Doctrine and robbers know they are risking their life when they unwelcomingly enter a home. I think I’ll take wearing gloves inside during winter or running from magpies in the spring anytime over some of the craziness that this summer will bring.

Answer this question- Hint: this is a place in Australia: Name the place where it’s extremely crowded with many people but you’re well advised to keep your head down, not look anybody in the eye and basically pretend that nobody around you exists. Small talk is not welcome and you might find trouble if you try to engage in it. If somebody bumps into you, you most likely won’t get an apology. This place has a high level of assaults and is known for common violence. People are more concerned with getting in, getting out and getting it over with. Where is this?
A.) Australia Prison
B.) Australian Train system
C.) Church

Well if you guessed church then you are wrong! It’s the Australian train system. I found it hard to deal with the first few times I had to use it. During rush hour it is so saturated with people that some literally can’t get on. Forget a seat. Getting on is an achievement. That is if you view success as being neck and neck with sweaty smelly people whose names you don’t even know. It was so weird to me at first how everyone associated with everyone else. Imagine a group of complete strangers elbow to elbow in such a small space for an extended period of time. How does one act? Well apparently the answer is to pretend that the person next to you doesn’t exist and keep to yourself. When I’m on the trains during rush hour I almost want to say “oh hello there! Now somebody forgot to brush their teeth this morning didn’t they? Well since you’re way past my space bubble I thought I’d let you know these things. In fact, you’re closer to me than anybody has gotten in a long while. Sir do you mind not singing out loud to your Liza Minelli song on your Ipod?.” It’s a bit scary too because there’s many incidents on the news where somebody got mugged, hit, slapped, harassed, etc on the train system. I must admit I’m quite proud of myself for a adjusting to this system. Being extremely close to all these people is an accomplishment for a small town girl like me. When in Rome….

I actually experienced a semi scary time on the train a few days ago. I have to take the train to college. I go to college from 9am until 10:30 pm on Tuesdays. It’s a long day and I’m exhausted by the time I get on the train to go home. I put on my ipod and tune out. Yet I begin to notice something that is rare on the train. Somebody talking to somebody else (I’m over exaggerating a bit). It didn’t take me long to realize a man trying to talk to anybody he could in an overly loud voice. There was something not quite right about him. He was being really loud and aggressively sought out people to talk to. People kept getting off at their stop and soon enough I was one of the only ones left on the train and the man had nobody else to talk to. Great. Soon after most the people left he turned to me and tried to get me to take off my headphones. Should I pretend to speak only Spanish? No que? Etas loco. No that wouldn’t work. I decided to do what I do best: I pretended I was in my own little world and was totally clueless (actually most the time I’m not pretending). It worked and he soon gave up. Great! Well except for the fact that he then started to rock back and forth and talk to himself in a very loud and angry voice. Since it was late at night and I still had to find a way home from the station in the dark by myself I was becoming worried. I ended up giving my hosts a call to come pick me up from the station. Even though they don’t seem to mind at all I hate putting them out too much. But I thought it was worth it this time.

Trees. Now you might be asking what can be so weird about a tree. Well it’s not so much the tree that’s strange but rather, it’s the arms that go around them. Better said, it’s the people that hug them that can be a bit on the bizarre side. And Australia seems to have a huge amount of so called ”tree huggers”. In Australia you can not cut down a tree. Simple as that. It doesn’t matter if that tree is on your land. You still can’t cut it down. It doesn’t matter if the tree in your yard is getting old and the loose branches are becoming a danger to your family. You can’t cut it down. In fact, there is a $20,000 reward for catching somebody who is cutting down a tree. Not to mention that there was only about a $1,000 reward for information leading to the capture of somebody who almost assaulted somebody to death. These people are serious about their trees. To be completely fair, there are ways that you can get a dangerous tree removed from your yard. You have to send in a request to the council and they have to decide if it is ok to cut down.

More:
~ Most parents here tell their kids to walk to school. They don’t drive them. It’s a pretty good thing I think because I rarely see any overweight kids. The kids don’t complain and the system seems to work out well. At 9:00 every morning there is a huge rush hour a kids walking by my house on there way to school.

~ People don’t eat out half as much as we do in America. Dinner at home with the family sitting around the table is commonplace. It’s no surprise because eating out is extremely expensive here. I was riding my bike the other day and came across a sign that said lunch special: $15. Ha!

~ People are crazy about their pets here. But rules for the pet owner are very strict. For one, you can’t walk your dog without carrying a “poop bag”. If you are caught without your bag then you are heavily fined. But who do they send to regulate this? The poop police? I just can’t imagine having that job. “Ma’m I just need to check if you have a certified poop bag. No this will just not do. I’m sorry.” In some areas they have a cat curfew. This means that your cat is required to be inside at a certain time in order to reduce newborn complaints about cats.

~ According to my observations there seems to be very few obese Australians. My theory is that A.) It’s too dang hot to eat B.) The temperature in the houses are more uncomfortable than the outside (either really hot or cold). Therefore many Aussies choose to be outside doing stuff than inside watching t.v and eating. That’s just my theory.

I can't think of anything to put here

2009-10-16T22:43:00.001-07:00

So great news! Mamma’s coming in on the 8th of November and staying until the 24 of November. I’m really looking forward to it. Knowing her though she’ll bring her own helmet and a tennis racquet so she can be protected against magpies. Other great news! Stephens’s coming on the 25 of December. Yes I know that this is on Christmas day and almost all transport from the airport is shut down that day. But he’s the one who booked the tickets. I might just bike the 100 kilometers to the airport if I have to so he won’t be stuck at the airport alone all day on Christmas. Who can say they spent Christmas day biking to the airport on the free way, dodging cars just to reach an airport where they’ll willingly spend the whole night there singing along to the off pitch Christmas carols that come on over the speaker and drinking cheap machine made stale coffee ? But I’ve always said it isn’t the place but the company that’s important and in that case it will be the coolest Christmas ever. More great news! I get to come visit America on March 24 through April 14! Yes this has been a time of intense airline bookings but has ended in success.

Now the bad news. I actually removed this in my previous blog because I wanted to make sure it was completely out in the open before I reported it. So some of you might have gotten it before I removed it but for those who have not: my pastor, Pastor John will not continue with being the pastor at Beaumaris Baptist. He is a very kind man and will be missed. I’ve enjoyed his friendship during my time here and wish him the best. On April 2010 he will leave Beaumaris Baptist to follow wherever he’s called.

When reviewing this week I can’t think of anything else out of the ordinary that I can write about. This week was busy (won’t bore you with the details) but went about in typical fashion. My highlight was getting a free salmon sandwich from work, singing hymns with a few blind elderly people at the nursing home and telling a hopefully inspirational devotional to the basketball team that took a while to plan. The devotional started with the Joke: what did the fish say when he ran into a huge concrete wall? Dam! But I tied it into the fact that you can’t control what happens to you sometimes but you can control how you react. Then I told the story of Joseph in the bible and then had to relive some of my athletically lacking days by telling them the story of how I kept shooting the basketball in the other team’s goal. But at least I don’t call the referee the umpire like a lot of people here do!

Work has been going well. Except that my boss continues to get frustrated with me because I have so much trouble understanding him. He speaks very fast in an Asian accent and very low. He then walks away. I’m always left standing there with my dish towel trying to figure out what he wanted me to do. Was it sweep the floor? Shut the door? Close down the store? Stand on my head and sing? Well it wasn’t the last one because he looked at me funny when I did that. JK. Other than a few minor communication difficulties work has been going well.

It’s been rainy and cold here as usual in Melbourne. I’m wondering when it will begin to get warmer. A month has gone by and it seems like it hasn’t gotten any warmer. I’m beginning to wonder where they got the term “sunny Australia” and I hope that it will be warmer by the time my mom comes. The good thing about spring here is that most trees don’t lose their leaves and therefore don’t have to grow them back. So no pollen and no allergies! The big thing to do here in the spring is go to the Melbourne cup. It will be coming up soon very soon I think. It’s a series of horse races that are apparently so important that all of Australia shuts down for a day to see them. It’s a national holiday!

At least the Candle doesn’t have 3 ends

2009-10-10T23:19:00.001-07:00

So this is bad. Really bad. I haven’t kept up with my blog for a while and in the words of Larry the Cable guy I apologize. I went through a mini homesick stage and then got incredibly busy. So I’ll try to recap everything that has happened. So here goes……

Two New Zealanders, an American and an Australian go on vacation. You might be waiting for the punch line but there is none. This is actually what we did. During school holidays all youth programs take a break. My college was also out for holidays so I had a good opportunity to go with my hosts, Barry and Karen who are New Zealanders, and my friend Kat, who is Australian as well as half Asian, around the countryside of Australia for a week. The mix of nationalities and backgrounds were amazing :) (Interesting fact: Kat, whose whole name is Katrina was born on September the 11th . Katrina. Sep. 11. Yes I give her a hard time.) We stayed in Tacoma, NSW for a few days and drove to Euchuca, Ballerete and finally back home to Beaumaris. Throughout the vacation I have found that there are a few essential rules one must know before partaking on an Australian adventure. I did not know these so I am bestowing my newfound wisdom on you just in case you ever find yourself in the incredibly exotic place know as Australia.

Rule number 1: Do not leave a perfectly dry and warm house to go camp out in the middle of a thunder and lightning storm. You will just return to that house 3 hours later soaking wet, injured and in a bad mood.
Rule Number 2: Waterproof tents are never waterproof
Rule Number 3: Never try to chase an Alpaca who is foaming at the mouth.
Rule Number 4: If one plans to go on a week long camping trip there is a 97.3% chance that a cold front will come in the form of heavy, never ending rain.
Rule Number 5: Wear sunscreen in Australia. It rained more than not on the trip but I somehow managed to get a tan. Think how that will be in the summer when it never rains and the sun always shines.
Rule Number 6: Kangaroos are not scared of cars! Drive slow.
Rule Number 8: When milking a cow do not stand directly behind it or it will pee on you.
Rule Number 7: Wear a helmet when you ride bikes. This isn’t so much to protect your head if you fall off your bike but to protect your head WHEN magpies attack you.

There is a story worth telling based on Rule number 7. One day during the vacation Katrina and I decided to ride bikes around the area. Five seconds after we left we were attacked by the most viscous magpie I have ever encountered. Do birds get rabies? Actually I’m not too sure if even rabies could explain this bird’s behavior. It first ran smack into my helmet with its beak and continued to chase me down the road. If someone was looking out their window at that time they would have seen a girl screaming bloody murder riding down the road and a rather large bird in hot pursuit. I tried to cover my eyes with my hand because I was told they go for your eyes. I continued to scream for my friend who was riding beside me as if I expected her to heroically dive off her bike and tackle the bird. Fortunately, it soon left me and went for her. One minute later we’re almost on the ground because we’re laughing so hard. I now understand why it’s illegal in Australia to not wear a bike helmet. Since being in Australia I’ve had to endure 9 or 10 magpie attacks. According to the locals these numbers are unusually high for one person. Go figure.
The other day I saw a dead magpie on the side of the road and I must admit that I was not moved to tears.
Other than being attacked by magpies I was able to partake in an assortment of good ol’ Australian fun. We visited an Alpaca farm, went wine tasting, milked cows on a friend’s farm, set up tents (but never actually camped out!), went in a gold mine, attempted to pan for gold, spotlighted for Kangaroos, went on a boat ride down the famous Marry river, went to heaps of random museums, played random Australian card games, visited a strawberry farm and paid $6 for a milkshake there. Part of the time during our journey we stayed at the house of Karen’s cousin where I joyfully cooked good ol’ Texas chili and told them they were eating ethnic food. Of course they liked it.

In other news I managed to get a job. Yes I know I’m already busy but here in a few weeks college will be out for a total of almost four months. I decided that I’ll replace the day that I usually go to college with a job. It will be only one day per week and since it will replace college day I shouldn’t be any busier than I already am. The only problem is that I actually got the job three weeks too soon and now for 3 weeks I’ll have a job and college. So if you have wondered why I haven’t posted in a while here’s your answer. I work at a restaurant and coffee shop called Geleontos in the mall by my house. It is the toughtest job I’ve ever had because for 7 straight hours I don’t sit, eat, drink and I get limited time to breath. All day long I serve coffee, make food, work the cash register, bus tables and take orders. Actually to be more accurate I spill coffee, mess up the food, make the cash register go crazy, knock over tables and mess up orders. Of course I’m exaggerating but find that if you can’t exaggerate and learn to laugh at yourself then life gets hard. I actually do ok for someone who’s never had a restaurant job before. In the words of my boss I’m a “fast learner, a hard worker, and have a way with people”. Ha! Oh well I’ll take it. He must have not seen me spill that coffee or trip that customer. The customers are patient because they love my accent! “Oh I’m so sorry ma’m I just spilt coffee all over you. I’ll get that cleaned right up for y’all. No sir I don’t think we serve “servias” here. Oh. A servia is a napkin? Um… yeah I’ll get that napkin for y’all then.” I’m learning now more than ever the differences between Australian and American terminology and accents. I have the toughest time taking their orders in a loud crowded place because I can’t understand what they are saying and if I do I sometimes don’t know what in the world they are talking about. But I’m learning and I think this job will serve to make my Australian experience even richer. I’ve only got 9 more months here and I want to make the most of this experience. It’s funny because the day I came in for training the only people on staff we’re Asians that spoke in very hard to understand English. They were the ones that were supposed to train me. I forgot to mention that training day was on a Saturday during holiday which was one of the busiest days. So all day during training I had to learn 1 million different things but had the added difficulty of understanding what I was being told. But all the workers were so patient with me and I’m thankful that they showed me great kindness.

Other than going on vacation, being attacked by magpies and getting a job I’ve managed to stay busy with other activities and projects such as painting the youth house (bright red, orange, green, blue, yellow), managing the boys basketball team, writing the church newsletter turning in my college essays, starting a youth bike riding group, growing the young girls bible study I do, visiting the nursing home, going to classes, helping out with band practice, planning my “sermon” for the youth church service, building relationships with the youth, making friends, working to promote a new youth study group, and becoming incredibly addicted to caffeine. Of course I also find time to relax, run, keep in touch with God and talk with a few back home. Although there are many I miss that I am not able to talk to. I can’t believe I’ve already been here for over 3 months now. It’s sad to think that in 9 months I’ll have to leave this place. I’ve already gotten comfortable here but can’t imagine how much harder it will be in 9 more months when I have to say bye. As always thanks for reading my blog. I’ll try to post more frequently so I don’t feel like I have to cram in everything.

Chucky Cheese Paddles

2009-09-12T22:41:00.000-07:00

To this day I can still remember quite vividly as a child sitting in my mom’s mini van, about to go a sleepover or party , and being told the consequences of not using “proper manners” to the adults present. To be clear “proper manners” means using ma’m and sir and referring to all adults as Mr. or Mrs. To be even more clear these consequences usually involved being hung upside down for a few days, stuck in a dark room with no food whatsoever for days on end or being spanked by a chucky cheese paddle (c’mon what kind of parent turns your paddle ball toy into a means for punishment when it is broken) No wonder I remember this so vividly. The fear of God was struck in me. Apparently Australian children do not get a similar talk from their parents. I just thought this was something every kid had to endure-like a coming of age necessity. In Australia, things are much more lax. Most kids here call the adults by their first names. Saying ma’m or sir can get you into some trouble because this is often viewed as a smart elic thing to say. I don’t even know the last name of some of my college professors because everyone just calls them by the first name. Needless to say, the first month here was tough. I was even told by the pastoral care worker that it’s ok that I slipped and used the word ma’m. It was if to say that she understood and was not offended. Ha! My pastor is refereed to as John. Not brother John, Mr. Haige, or even Mr. John. Nope. It’s John and sometimes Pastor John. It’s just a cultural difference that I have to get used to. To this day I still have trouble calling everyone by their first name but I’m getting better at it. I still have a mental image of my mom sneaking up behind me with a chucky cheese paddle-even if she’s actually thousands of miles away. Childhood scars.

I don’t think there’s anywhere else in the world where an elementary student asks the teacher for a rubber and the teacher never bats an eye. They do this all the time actually. Not saying ma’m and asking teachers for rubbers. Man oh man. I failed to mention that a rubber here is what we call erasers in America. However, it sill got me the first time I heard it and it took special effort to refrain from looking shocked or cracking a smile in the middle of teaching. I go into the schools on Mondays and teach third graders bible lessons during class time for an hour. The government allows you do that here so I thought I’d take advantage of the opportunity. I find this to be a neat experience but I’m completely out of my element. I am not destined to become a teacher as this experience has shown me. But I do alright I guess. I would have never dreamed that I would be sitting in a chair while a bunch of third graders gathered around me on the floor, anxiously awaiting what I’m going to say next. Must be the accent.

It’s spring here in Melbourne. I can’t seem to shake the feeling that I’m being robbed of my favorite season of the year; fall. The good thing about Melbourne is that it actually has 4 distinct seasons instead of the typical Texas seasons, kind of hot and hell (saying stolen from Stephen Jones). Each season here gets about 3 months of showtime. The bad thing about Melbourne is that in spring, the wind knocks you down if you are less than 100 pounds (45mph!) and birds try to poke your eyes out with their beaks. You’re having a bad day if you experience both of these simultaneously. Let me explain: In the span of 10 hours I was “dive bombed” by birds on two different occasions. They tried to take my head off. Quite alarmed I asked the locals to explain their strange behavior (Behavior of the birds this time, not the locals.) Apparently it is mating season for a particular bird called a magpie. The magpies are very territorial and if you happen to walk under their nests they try to poke your eyes out or at least get you with their beaks. My goodness even their birds here are dangerous! Aw spring, the season for warm weather, pretty flowers, blue skis and birds that try to poke your eyes out.

I finally got it! Difference between tea, dinner and supper: Read carefully. When someone says “come over and we’ll have tea together tonight” this means we are all going to eat a meal together at night. But if someone says “hey what would you like for supper later tonight?” then they are asking you what you would like for a late night snack. However, you know you hit the jackpot whenever they say “we’re going to give you dinner tonight!” because this means you’re going to get a very nice meal with many courses served. If somebody asks you over for breakfast this means you’re having…….breakfast.

~ I’m just joking about those aforementioned consequences. My mom would never do that! Well actually the chucky cheese paddle is completely true.

Happy Father's Day!!!

2009-09-05T23:26:00.000-07:00

Happy Father’s Day!

I believe there comes a time in every person’s life when they realize, at that particular moment, that they must look completely ridiculous. However they fail to do anything about it because they are having so much fun. I must admit that I’ve had more than my fair share of these moments in my own life but one particular instant came up just a few days ago. It involved me being taught an Australian dance by a few 12 year olds while trying to imitate the Australian accent, failing miserably, with icing spread on my face like Indian war paint. I had that moment. You might ask how this comes to be. All I can say is you might be in the same boat if you volunteered to make dessert with a bunch of 12 and 10 year olds. Kids don’t just make dessert and go home. Nope. Kids make dessert, lick the beaters, drop icing all over the floor, have a food fight, spread the icing all over face, learn new dance moves with icing on face, coax double left footed youth leader to learn the same moves, spread icing all over neighbor’s face, attempt to drink raw eggs, make a cooking show and take 108 pictures of the experience. If only I had this much fun every time I cooked. We made a popular Australian dish called “Pavlova”. Everyone was completely amazed that I’ve never even heard of the dish much less tried it. After trying it I decided that I have to move it to my famous "Wagley's top 10” favorite dessert list. It melts in your mouth and contains zero calories. Just playing. But it really does melt in your mouth.

The big expo night went smoothly. We had a turnout of a little over 100 kids. They all seemed to enjoy it. 90% of the kids responded to the “alter call”. I call it “altar call” because I honestly feel like the well intentioned speaker did it in a very deceiving (not intentional) and vague way meaning that most of the kids had no idea what they were doing. It went something like this “and now if you would like to throw away all the baggage in your life to Jesus come to the front and we’ll pray for you. Please Lord accept their baggage.” Since I’m in charge of follow up my main goal will be to clarify a few things and explain what a Christian is and how one becomes a Christian. My job with follow up is to have a weekly session for the kids wishing to know more about what they did and to help them grasp a basic understanding of Christianity. I’ve had the first session already and out of the 80+ kids who came to the front only 3 came back the following week. This might seem like a failure but I have to remind myself that numbers are sometimes an inaccurate way to measure success. Sometimes it’s about sincerity of heart and if we have even one new, serious believer out of our efforts on expo then it’ll be worth it. Plus I’m the type of person to do better in a small atmosphere and frankly I was a little intimated and freaked out about leading a session with 80+ kids. Yet now I’d say that I’m about 90% inspired and 10% overwhelmed about leading this. A great place to be I must say. So I guess we’ll continue to have the sessions once a week and hope and pray that it’ll grow.

~I’ve been having such a great time with my new bike. However, I find it a bit daunting when I continually get passed by old men on mountain bikes that seem to be out on a midday stroll. They smile at my out of breath and sweaty self and say “g’day” as they slowly pass by me. Grrrr

~I’m leading a skit for the youth to do on Sunday morning church. Yes yes I know please don’t laugh. I’ve had absolutely no experience with drama much less leading a team of overly energetic and caffeinated 14 year olds. But all has gone well so far. C’mon what’s the worse that can happen?

~“What are S’mores”? Yes I was actually asked this by several people in response to an idea I had about roasting marshmallows over a camp fire. This question might actually be even more surprising than the “what are hershey bars” question. I thought everyone knew! Yet this time I was more prepared and gave a much better response. It went something like this: “S'more appears to be a contraction of the phrase, "some more". The informal nature of this term reflects the environment in which s'mores are traditionally served and its meaning hints at the desires of campers who are not satisfied by just one s'more. Some have jokingly surmised that the name originated from people who were so busy eating the tasty treat that they did not have time to speak in complete sentences” Just joking. But I did explain it much better.

~I can’t believe that my classes are almost half way over. I’ve really been enjoying them and find that it’s been such a learning experience for me. All my classes consist entirely of essays. This is essentially a good thing because that means there are no late night study sessions but at the same time I feel like half my life is spent writing away (essays, emails, blogs, facebook, etc...) I bet I’ll become quite good at it in the end.

~Happy father’s Day dad! I know we’ve already celebrated it in America but Australians celebrate it today. Sorry mom (or should I say mum?) but mother’s day is the same day in both places.

~If I’m having a phone conversation with an Australian there’s a 90% chance that there will be a miscommunication in one form or another. To be honest, I have trouble understanding Australians as it is but on the phone I don’t have the benefit of reading their lips and smiling sweetly. There’s only so many whats, huhs, and pardons that I can do before I give up. Texts messaging has helped me tremendously.

~I have just returned from the ever popular AFL game. AFL stands for Australian Rules football and everyone here is absolutely crazy about it. September is the most intense month and I can’t go anywhere without hearing about it or seeing both men and women decked out in appeal. The best way to describe it is to say it’s a mix between soccer and football. They do not wear padding or helmets and it’s often called footy for short (Australians shorten everything). The first few days I was here in Australia I kept referring to it as “footsy” instead of footy. Needless to say that’s been taken care of.

~Australia is so stinkin' expensive

~Sometimes it’s not about the things you marked off your list that day but the relationships that you formed or the time spent with someone else.

Jesus and Jack Black

2009-08-23T04:15:00.000-07:00

For my 22 birthday my New Zealander host family threw a “barbeque” for me and I got to invite my friends. So basically New Zealanders threw a party for an American who invited a bunch of Australians. Go figure. It’s been a while since I posted but in a nut shell I turned 22 and Stephen got to visit me for two weeks. This had to be my favorite birthday too. I got a super huge stuffed gorilla, soap, raw kangaroo (which I did in fact eat), camel poop (I did not eat!), 2 cakes, and a box of cereal. They literally sang happy birthday to me 3 times throughout the day which meant that I blushed 3 times that day. For the program that night some of the youth showed a video we had made together. It featured me asking one of the boys to pass the ketchup. Since they don’t have ketchup here they pretend to be confused and agreed that we should catch up. “Ketchup!” I say and they then pick up a cat and say oh “cats up!” “No kethchup!” I continue and they proceed to put the cat in a bowl saying “oh cat soup” Quite clever I must say.

The youth seemed to enjoy Stephen quite a bit. Because of his beard many of the kids thought he looked like either Jack Black or Jesus. I tried to throw in George Clooney but they weren’t too keen on that. Together we got to go to the Mornigton Peninsula, an Australian zoo, a ruby game with the pastor, the Victorian market, Frankston, Australia, the beach, and unfortunately the airport as well. I even took him to my classes. The next time I see him will be in four months and I’m not too excited about that fact.

I’m beginning to feel more settled in now. Australians are great at making you feel welcome and they’ve all gone above and beyond for me. I’ve been so thankful for their kindness over these few weeks. I actually remember most people’s names now! I’m learning so much from my classes here and I’m starting to get more involved with everything. I’ve been asked to do several devotionals since I’ve last written and I feel much more comfortable doing them now. I might be teaching Sunday school soon and in the near future I’ll be teaching bible in the schools to 3rd graders. We’ll see how that goes. I find that I grow more when I’m forced to be put out of my comfort zone at least once a day. If you would have told me that I would be doing this kind of stuff a year ago I would have freaked out. But I find that I have the most fun, make the most impact, and grow the most when I agree to do things that are difficult for me to do at first.

Randomness (as always) :
~It never ceases to make my day when I hear an Australian imitate the ever popular Forest Gump. They tend to do this all the time and it sounds nothing like Forest Gump. I’m not too sure what it sounds like actually.

~I don’t understand that 90% of Australians can’t distinguish what type of American accent I have. They don’t hear the twang or the draw. It’s just an American accent to them and they can’t tell a difference from me and a guy from New York city. I find this highly puzzling.

~I’ve just received my new road bike! I got to test ride it today (first sunny day in a while) and it was amazing. Except for the fact that I continued to get passed up by teams of old men and women.

~ Apparently spitting outside is illegal here. At least that’s what the youth told me. But then again they’ve also told me that an elephant is buried under the church and that it’s illegal to not twirl your umbrella.

~However I might believe it because there does seem to be a few weird laws here. You’re not allowed to cut trees down in your own yard! There’s a $20,000 reward for turning in your neighbor who does so. The ironic thing is there was only a $2,000 reward for turning in a dude who heavily assaulted another person. You can’t own a gun except for a few minor exceptions. If you injure a person who breaks inside your house you have a high chance of being sued. I can’t carry maze. If a burglar comes into your backyard and gets bitten by your dog then its big trouble for you.

~ Remember when I said if an Australian invites you over for tea that means dinner? Well it gets even more confusing. Sometimes if they say we’re going to have dinner and it’s 10 at night then that means they want to have a snack. However, if they say “we're going to have dinner tonight at 6” then that most likely means an extremely nice meal with many courses. Yet if they want to have dinner but it’s breakfast time then I have absolutely no idea what they’re talking about.

~ I’m going to have a very exciting and busy week due to an important event called “Expo”. This is a huge youth rally that our church puts on twice a year. The majority of attendees are unchurched kids. The goal to get them through the door and show them that church isn’t as scary as they though it was. It’s a night of games, food, bands, and a short but hopefully effective talk. We’re all working hard to make sure it goes as smoothly as possible. I’d appreciate it if you’d keep it in your prayers.

~ As always thanks for reading my blogs. More to come soon.

4 days or less

2009-08-17T04:14:00.000-07:00

Sorry guys! So Stephen came to visit. I therefore have not had the time to sit down and post. I'll get one up here in 4 days or less. Keep looking and thanks so much for reading.

"What are Hershey Bars?"

2009-07-30T20:43:00.000-07:00

During my brief time here I have come to the conclusion that Australians and American candy do not mix. Much in the same way that Americans and the Australian “Vegemite” do go well together. But I’ll get to the second one in a bit. I want to first talk about one of the most amazing and puzzling questions asked to me by Karen, my Australian host (they don’t use Mr. or Mrs. here. Still getting used to that). We were standing in an American food store that she took me to when she preceded to ask me what Hershey bars were. After getting over the shock of the question I sought to find only the best, most elegant and wonderful of words to describe something as magnificently delicious and simplistic as a Hershey Bar. It was my responsibility, my duty, as an upstanding citizen of America to find the perfect expression to do the candy bar justice. “Um… it’s a big chuck of chocolate’ Looking back this wasn’t the most charming of ways to describe something that I find to be so incredibly amazing. It was then that I realized I must buy a pack of my favorite American candies and pass them around to the people that I know. The best American candy is of course a Reese’s (like I had to tell you) so I bought a bunch of Reese’s minis. Clearly no one would know what a Reese’s was. Even the head youth guy at the Church, who owns and runs a candy factory, had never heard of them. However, it seemed like everybody that I gave one to liked it. Success! Well…almost. One of the funniest moments here so far involved me giving a Reese’s to one of my friends. She opened it up and put the whole thing in her mouth. She was really quite for about a minute and I thought to myself “man she must really like it!” Then I noticed that she had this really funny expression on her face. The question that then came out of her mouth was not what I was expecting. “Um is there supposed to be paper in this candy?” Along with the Reese’s she had put the whole outer dark paper in her mouth too! She just thought it was supposed to be dark chocolate.

Note to Self: Do not send parents Australian food in the mail that has been washed once in the laundry. Even if it looks fine there could be soap hidden within the package and they might mistake the soapy taste for the authentic taste of Australian food. Yeah that did happen. I was so excited to mail my family Australian “Vegemite” but I overlooked the fact that I accidentally washed the package of vegemite with my jeans. However, most Americans might agree that Vegemite wouldn’t taste any worse if it had been washed. I also mailed it to Stephen and his family and I think the unanimous opinion was that it made them want to puke. I must admit the stuff is an acquired taste. I had some on my toast this morning and find it quite appetizing.

So I started my first week of classes on Tuesday and I’m going to be so busy! Over the course of 12 weeks along with my homework assignments and readings I will also have to write 11 essays and do one 35 minute presentation. Ha! I was worried that I wouldn’t be busy enough here! Nevertheless, I think I will really enjoy my classes. I’m taking the Gospel of Luke, Youth Ministry, Practical Ministry Awareness and Spirituality. These are all the types of classes that I wanted to take during my time at Ouachita but couldn’t fit into my schedule. I realized late on Sunday night that I had to report to Mitchum Baptist church early on Monday morning for a college meeting. That meant about as much to me as it does to you. I had no idea what and where Mitchum was. I had never heard of this place in my life. I had no car and I can only run so far. Everyone who could help me was already asleep so I just pulled out all the train maps and figured it out myself. I arrived in Mitchum (almost 2 hours away) but then I had to find the specific church in the city. I had no idea how to do this so I just started walking. I stopped random people to ask if they knew where I should go. Eventually I found the place and got there in the nick of time. I must admit I was pretty darn proud of myself for navigating the train system. I believe it makes up for getting completely lost the first time. Like I said I’ve been pretty busy. Some of the stuff that I’m doing in the near future include: cooking Texas Chili for the youth group (never cooked chili in my life), trying to start a new bible study group, getting to know the nursing home residents, coaching a B ball team, planning a 15 minute lesson, getting accredited so I can teach religion in the schools (you can do that in Australia!), helping out with the big expo event, learning how to become a Chaplin for a middle school and going to all the planned youth events throughout the week. Whew! But I’m glad that I’m busy doing stuff I feel is important because I want to make as much of a positive difference as I can. I feel called here for a reason and I’m leaving behind people that I don’t want to leave behind. I want to make the most of my time here so I know that it was all worth it. So far I think I’m doing just that.

Randomness:

~ It rains quite a bit here. I’m so tired of this rainy cold weather! In fact, I find it much harder to adjust to the weather here than almost anything else. I can’t ever seem to get warm! But what don’t kill you….

~ It’s common in Texas to hear the saying “if you don’t like the weather in Texas then wait a day, it’ll change.” Yet in Melbourne it goes more like this, “If you don’t like the weather in Melbourne then wait an hour it’ll change.” In any given day, I’ll wake up to “warm” sunshine, get caught in the rain on my afternoon run, get blown over by the wind on my walk to the coffee shop and watch the stars on a perfectly calm, clear night. Melbourne is called the “four seasons in one day city” and I now see why.

~ We’re having an upcoming “mystery night” for the youth. It involves things like traveling all over the city, finding one of the church members dressed as a leopard and hiding in a store, searching for a kidnapped girl, and running around a mall . I’m excited about that and I think it’s a great way to help reach the youth.

~ Once people find out I’m American (usually after I open my mouth) they generally ask me one of two things. A.) Have you shot a gun? B) What do you think about Obama? Isn’t he amazing? Hmmm……

~Wagley's Wonderful Weekly Australian Slang Lesson:
Wagging= skipping. i.e: Shelby was so excited about the A on her paper that she WAGGED up and down the hall.
Lollies= candy i.e: Matt chose a Heresy bar for his Lollie but Ken decided to go with a Reese’s. NOBODY ever uses the word candy.
Runners= sneakers or Nikes. i.e: To play basketball Mary had to bring her runners.
Floss= cotton candy i.e: At the fair Jenny had so much floss that she threw up on the ride.
Boy= girl. Just playing

~“Who is Helen Keller?” Some friends and I got into a conversation the other day and this is the question that was brought up. What? Helen Keller! So again, it was my duty as an American to find the proper words to describe this incredible women and her amazing achievement. How can I give them an idea of what she means to us Americans? However all I could get out was “um she was some blind and deaf chick who did some cool things.” Fail. Again. Man I gotta get better at describing things that are common knowledge in America.

~ 2 layers of socks, 3 layers of long sleeved shirts, a scarf, gloves, long johns, jeans, and a jacket. On any given day this is my attire. Not that I wear all of these items of clothing every single day but I’ll wear most of it. It’s particularly off-putting when I see a kid half my age running by me in shorts and sandals. It’s not that Australian winters are any colder than Texas winters but the fact that in Texas, people heat their houses and close their doors and windows.

I Don't Get Australian Humor (Warning: Very Random Blog)

2009-07-23T20:13:00.000-07:00

What did the farmer say when he lost his tractor? Help I can’t find my tractor. What? I don’t get this. Australian humor is a very complicated thing and I can only hope to progress (or is it regress?)to that level of understanding during my year here. Ha! I find that I am quickly adjusting to my new way of life. The thick, unique Australian accent is becoming much less noticeable. Now when I speak to people here I think their accent sounds completely normal (what is normal anyhow?). Just the other day I was talking to two girls for a while. One of them eventually told me that they were Americans and had just come to this country to visit. I didn’t notice their lack of Australian accent because it's become so familiar to me! I suppose the next step is to actually sound like one myself. Hmmm that should be interesting. I’ll call it the Australian twang.

Australia still seems like some huge, unfamiliar country where almost anything can happen. However, I think that this makes it more interesting. One of my favorite things to do is to tour the city during my runs and get to know the place I live in. It’s great because I almost never run in the same place twice. I actually live on the outskirts of the city so it’s not so overwhelming to a small town girl such as myself. The most amazing thing is that I live 1200 meters from the beach, a mile away from a huge shopping centre, a mere walk to some quant shops and bakery’s, and right by a few ethnic food places. I find that almost all the restaurants here are privately owned. In fact, the only restaurant I’ve seen that I actually recognize as a chain is TGI Fridays. The rest feature authentic, ethnic cuisine like Thai, Turkish, Greek, Indian, and Middle Eastern food which seems to be conveniently placed by my house. This fact makes me happier than a kid at Christmas.

My youth job seems to be pretty busy but not completely overwhelming. I’m really enjoying getting to know the kids. They’re all great. It’s been a great experience and I’m just trying to build relationships and become somebody that they can come to. And guess what? I’m coaching a girl’s basketball team! Don’t laugh. I know, I know. Most of you have seen me play basketball but this doesn’t mean that I can’t be a good coach. Right? In America, some people would say to me “you’re tall, you must be good at basketball”. But here it’s a bit different. The Australians say “You’re American, you must play basketball.” Unfortunately both groups are wrong and this example just goes to show that assumptions are almost never true. I think I should have a microphone of something when I coach during a game because I’m so quite nobody can hear a word I say. And if they could they still wouldn’t understand it. “Um put your hands up, grab that thing. Yeah I mean the ball. Run fast. You’re the post guard now. Um… I mean point guard. No I mean post. Run fast. Go. Jump high. Punch her in the face” I’m joking about the last one.

“Um… we usually don’t put our feet on the subway seats.” These are the words spoken by my kind Australian friend after I had used the subway seat in front of me as a foot rest for over 10 minutes. I was wondering why she kept looking at my shoes. I thought she was just interested in my super cool cowboy boots. Apparently here in Australia putting your feet on things other than the floor is seen as extremely rude. Oops. I’ve also found that I tend to have some trouble identifying the appropriate bill I should give the cashier. Their money looks so different. It’s extremely colorful, completely wrinkle free and much better looking. Coins here go up to $2. I dread buying something in a store because I fumble with the bills for a while before I decide which one to use.

Randomness:

~ To get a better idea of Australia, it’s best to think of it like America except everything is mini size. The food portions are much smaller and in turn the people are generally smaller (weigh less). Coffee cups are mini size. Sometimes I want to look at the food and say “well that looks nice but do you have something other than the sample”. LOL. The trash cans are mini size! It might hold 2 egg cartons. The grocery stores are much smaller but don’t necessarily have less stuff. Everything is just crammed into a smaller space and people tend to have trouble getting their buggies down the isle.

~ I’ve seen one pickup truck since I’ve been here.

~ I get to do a little nursing home visitation in some of my time and it’s been so much fun. There’s something unique about visiting people that have lived all of their 95 years of life in Australia. They can tell me so much about Australian history plus they love my accent!

~ I seem to become quite enamored with the grocery stores here. They’re a bit different than in America. There is one by my house and I sometimes just go in it to stare at everything. There are so many different types of food! I’m sure the people there think I’m such a weirdo. Some random girl who just stands there and stares at food for long periods of time. That’s me.

~ Oatmeal is called portage, trash cans are called rubage or dust bins (never ever trash cans) shady or creepy is called dodgy, sidewalks are called walk paths, and flashlights are called torches. More to come later.

~I have liked every new Australian food that I have tried. Except one thing: pumpkin. Not pumpkin pie mind you. The Australians eat pumpkin all the time and I just can’t seem to get that stuff down. I even like something called Vegemite and eat it on my toast regularly. It’s a type of spread and I’ve never tasted anything remotely like it before. The Australians said that I was the first American to actually like it. But please keep the Pumpkin.

~ I’ve never been much of a soda drinker before but I’ve fallen in love with a particular soft drink called solo. It’s hands down the best drink I’ve ever had before.

~ Australians tend to be quite lax about all these dangerous creatures living around them. Just the other day this guy in my youth group nonchalantly told me how he picked up a brick, put it down and saw the there was a Redback spider sitting right by his hand the whole time. They say the Redback spider is the 2nd deadliest spider in the world. Second deadliest! They also have these jellyfish swimming around their oceans that can supposedly kill you with one sting.

~ I tend to forget my camera everywhere I go! I hate this because I’ve seen so many cool things but I can’t even take a picture of it! I’ll try to be better about this.

Australians like Texas Accents. (Warning: VERY LONG POST)

2009-07-15T16:40:00.000-07:00

Jet lag is worse than being kicked by a kangaroo. I have come to this conclusion not by being kicked by a kangaroo but rater by experiencing jet lag to its fullest. How do I know this then? Well I’ve seen kangaroos and I have seen their feet which leads me to wonder if I would trade in the feeling of jet lag for the sensation of being kicked by a kangaroo. I might change my mind if for some reason a kangaroo ever actually decides to be so kind as to kick me but for now I’m going to go with that. I usually do not write such strange things in a blog post nor do I really think of such things on a regular basis. However, I think I’ll go ahead and blame it on jet lag. In fact, I’ll go ahead and blame every crazy thing I’ve done these past few days on the awful, awe-inspiring feeling of jet lag.

I have attempted more than half a dozen times to get into the drivers seat when someone takes me for a drive. (Aussies drive on the left side and therefore the steering wheel is on the right side) I have also let out a high pitched yell and covered my face when my friend proceeded to drive on the left side of the road. Why did I do this? Um….jet lag? Less than 24 hours after arriving to Australia I was asked to say a few words in front of the whole church. Everyone was sitting in silent anticipation waiting for the American to say something thought provoking. Um… did I mention I was jet lagged? I actually ended up rambling on to the congregation about how I lived in Louisiana for many years (this had nothing to do with what I was supposed to talk about). I believe I used the phase “I’m really excited to be here” about 13 times during my talk. Right before I was called to talk I had to leave the congregation because of a spontaneous coughing fit. Unfortunately, this wasn’t the last time I had a crazy coughing fit. I also did it on the first day of classes. Yep, jet lag.

The other day I decided to take a train home from the camp that I went to for a week (very good camp btw). Granted I have never used the train before as transportation system but it did seem to be a good idea at the time. It wasn’t. Long story short I took the wrong train, ended up in some random town that had graffiti all over the walls, all the while carrying a 45 pound bag on my back and accidentally knocking over anyone crazy enough to get in my way. But a few hours later I was safely back in the home that I was supposed to be in. In the end it was a good experience for me because it taught me how to get around and rely on myself. Jet lag? Um…yep sure. I also attempted to tell my youth minister and his family a joke from America. Note here that the same meaning applies for the slang term “crabs” in America as well as in Australia (do I really have to explain further?). I’m sure everyone knows this joke. Why don’t crabs share? Because they are shellfish! Well that’s not exactly how I said it. Nope. I proceeded to ask the youth pastor “why don’t we share crabs here?” Jet lag!!! Unfortunately, I’m only able to milk the excuse of jet lag for so long. By the time my next post comes along I would have already recovered and would then have to be fully accountable for my actions. Well I suppose I can always use the justification of “oh that’s just what we do in America” for every single embarrassing thing that I end up saying or doing. Eventually though they are bound to figure out that most of the stuff I do is just because I’m Hannah Wagley.

Since I’m an observer I have found some random tidbits of knowledge during my first week here that I hope you find interesting:

~ Australians are tough, Texans are wimpy. Not really but I have found this to be true when it comes to warming houses in the winter. It is so cold everywhere I go (it’s winter here now). Australians don’t really heat their house very much. I don’t believe many houses have central heating. In fact the normal temperature in most houses is around 50-58 F. This is nuts! And they leave windows and doors open all the time! It’s winter here! Winter!

~ Don’t get excited (like I did) when you weigh yourself on a scale and find the number is 53. This is not pounds! It’s kilograms. Australians also use KJ instead of calories, litters instead of gallons; centimeters instead of inches (ask someone how tall they are. It’s in centimeters!), kilometers instead of miles, and probably most importantly, Celsius instead of Fahrenheit. So again, don’t get excited like I did when you see the speed limit is 100.

~ When someone says “would you like to have tea at my house tonight” this means that they have invited you for supper. Not tea. When someone says “we didn’t get any morning tea” this means that they missed breakfast. However, when someone says “lets have a cup of tea” (which they do quite often) then this means lets have a cup of tea. But sometimes this means lets have a snack and no tea is ever actually served. Very confusing.

~Iced tea is unheard of. Chicken fried steak is unheard of. Fried catfish is unheard of! Ahhhhh! No one that I have talked to yet has ever actually heard of fried okra or even okra for that matter.

~ I’ve never seen so many cyclists and runners in my life. These people are crazy. I live close to the beach and at certain times of the day cars can hardly get past the cyclists on the roads. They are everywhere! I love it.

~ Australians seem to drink from the tiniest cups I’ve ever seen. During a meal I’ll get up several times just to refill my cup. For the most part, Australians don’t really drink with their meals. There’s been many meals that I’ve had were I was dying of thirst and there didn’t seem to be any cups or liquid around.

~ Apparently it rarely rains where I live. And the city of Melbourne doesn’t have many water reservoirs. This means they have very little water to spare. It is strongly suggested by the government that we can only have three minute showers. I’ve noticed how people here go to great lengths to conserve the water. I’ve never seen so many dirty cars. My host family will take the water from the bathtub they used via bucket and put it in their garden. I have yet to see a sprinkler in the yard. Hmmm….maybe this explains why they have such small cups?

~ Australians don’t tip (for the most part). Not even in restaurants. Most waiters make more than $15 an hour so it’s not necessary. This is the way to go!

~ “How did you go? or “How are you going” This was a confusing phrase b/c it wasn’t used in the context I was familiar with. When Aussies say this it means “how did you do?” or “how are you”

~ If you meet a girl in Australia there’s a 50% chance that her name is Kate. Well I’m exaggerating quite a bit but I’ve never met so many girls named Kate (Kat, Katharine, Katy, etc…) than I ever have before.

~Austrian coffee is so much better than American coffee. I’m a bit of a coffee addict and much to my extreme delight I have found that Australian coffee shop coffee is much better tasting than American coffee. However, when they make coffee within their houses it is much different and worse than drip coffee in America. Everyone does powder coffee instead of the real stuff from coffee machines.

~ Australians love Texas accents! I thought they might.

I love Australia and the differences in culture. Australians are some of the nicest, friendliest people you will ever come across. I look forward to my time here and writing about everything I have learned and observed.

I’M GOING TO LIVE IN AUSTRALIA!

2009-07-02T06:50:00.000-07:00

I have this life list. On it are a few things that I would like to do before I die. It might be more appropriate to call it my bucket list but life sounds much less morbid. I just realized this, but since I have turned 21 I have been able to accomplish four of those life list goals. In the span of a year I have (in order) biked across America, ran a marathon, graduated college, and now I’m going to go live in another country. Australia! I can’t wait to see what my 22nd year brings. Man I must say God is good.

Life is crazy. I think that my initial Bike and Build “Sea to Sea” blog title was much more fitting than I would have ever thought. I leave to go to Australia today. Today! I’ll stay and work in Melbourne, Australia for a year as a youth ministry intern. I’ll also attend college there and study Bible classes. I’m pretty excited but also fairly nervous. I’m sure there will be plenty of ups and downs along the way (leaving certain people) but I’m ready to ride both. I’ve always been one for adventure so I think that this experience will be as my grandma would say “right up my ally”.

So I’m going to use this blog to cover my times and experiences while I’m in Australia. I’ll do my best to keep it interesting. My goal is to update once a week but there will be times when I write more than that. I just felt that this was the best way to share with my family and friends of my time in Australia. To be honest, I think this blog will be anything but boring if I just keep doing what I do. For those who know me well (or at all) then you know exactly what I mean. For those who don’t, um… I tend to make um… “ditzy” (I hate that word) mistakes especially when it comes to navigating myself through a big city. I’ve lived in a small town my entire life. It’s safe to say that my big city navigating skills are a kin to Barney on the Andy Griffith Show. Great. I’m coming from a town of 2,000 people and moving to a city of 4 million! C’mon this is the girl who has a whole post dedicated to getting lost in Dallas for 2 hours, barely making it to her Peace Corps interview, and then accidentally winding up in the HOV lane on the way back while wondering if that was the lane for blind people (see previous post). Um yep I’ll have plenty of stories to tell. Besides doing stuff like that from time to time just makes life more interesting, right? Well I’m sure my next post will be from the great land of Australia so stay tuned. I've got a 20 hour plane ride to get through and I barely slept a wink last night. Joy.

P.S: For those who were wondering, I did finally get accepted to the Peace Corps but have declined. They wanted me to go to Namibia. I felt that right now Australia was the best place for me to be.

NEAT FACT: I have grown up in the small town of Frankston, Texas most of my life. There is only one other town named Frankston in the entire world. And do you know where that would be located? Four miles down the road from me in Australia! The irony is crazy. I go half way around the world and still end up being only a few miles from the name of my town.

City Streets make me weep

2008-11-07T19:39:00.000-08:00

Here’s an update on my life: So, it looks like there’s a high possibility that I’m going into the Peace Corps. I went for the interview yesterday (more on that later) and got my nomination today. For those who do not know, a nomination means that my recruiter found a spot for me in a certain region of the country that needs my skills. I’ve been told that I’ll be sent to sub-Saharan Africa to (country unknown for now) and the date of my departure is around mid-July. Although my exact job isn’t know yet, it will require biology skills that I’ve developed through majoring in biology. Of course, the dates, region, and job are tentative as of right now but there is a high possibility that I will be sent to do this. So really whether I get the volunteer position or not mainly depends if I get cleared medically and how fast I do this. So what’s next?: the intense and selective medical clearance. Their picky about who they select because they want to make sure that you’re healthy enough to live in a devolving country for two years and be able to survive getting sick many times over (it’ll happen). It’s know to be extremely time consuming. Yet it comes at a great time in the semester because I’ll have a month off for Christmas break soon to work on it. And to be honest I’m not too worried about getting medically cleared. C’mon I just biked across the country. I can handle it.

This next part will either make you laugh or make you think I’m the biggest idiot in the world. Or both. I think the actual job interview itself went well. I was pretty nervous this week because I’ve never been in such an intensive interview before. My past “interviews” went something like this: “You want to work here? You look normal. Ok cool you’re hired.” The PC interview lasted 1hr and 45 minutes and was more intense than I’m used to. But I didn’t get worked up and answered the questions well. Unfortunately, the job interview was the least stressful part of my day. The act of getting there made me want to shoot myself in the foot. I never have nor will I ever live in a city. Ever. It was estimated to be a 4 hour drive but I left 6 hours ahead of time just in case something happened. And something happed. Actually a lot of somethings happened. Of course I took a wrong turn and was completely lost. But no worries b/c I had hours to find the place. After a lot of yelling, close calls, dumb one way streets, and cursing of road signs, I finally found the address. And kept going. And going. Because where does one find parking in this place? A mile later I finally found parking in some sketchy part of town and then high-tailed it in my business suit and high heels through the ghetto…… ignoring the stares. Naturally I couldn’t find the building I was supposed to be in but after asking random people I finally found it. 5 minutes until interview time. I set off the security alarms. I ran into random people. I found the office! 1 minute until interview time. 1 minute! Never have I used the phrase “in the nick of time” and meant it more than I do now. As I was signing in the interviewer came to get me. To think if I had just one more red light I would have been late. Getting back home was easy compared to getting there. I just ended up in the car pool lane. No clue how I got there. I had no idea what the “hov” lane was. A lane for blind people? All I knew is I wasn’t supposed to be there due to the many car honks I received by those stuck in rush hour. After frantically calling my dad and asking what “hov” meant I then gratefully found an exit and escaped ticket free. What a day. But at least I can laugh about it (hysterically) which is one of the main traits they look for in the Peace Corps. Ability to laugh in tough situations. Maybe I’m meant for it after all.

In other news I’m starting my official marathon training on Monday because our last cross country race is tomorrow. I guess running cross country the past few months gives me a great base for starting. I think I’ll essentially just slowly double what I’ve been doing so I have enough endurance to finish. That’s my goal, to finish. Not to get an amazing time but to cross the finish line in one piece and mentally sane. And I think wanting to be mentally sane is pushing it. Ok maybe I’ll just hope to be in one piece. The more I think about it being slightly insane is a requirement if you want to run a marathon. Sane people wouldn’t really attempt to run 26.2 miles.

Update

2008-09-17T05:58:00.000-07:00

The whole marathon training thing isn’t going so well because apparently you actually have to run in order to train. The first two weeks of practice I injured my back (SI joint) from overuse and am now slowing trying to get back (no pun intended). One hypothesis from the Athletic trainer is that I might have gotten my back out of line from being hunched over all summer on a bike. Go figure. Ironically, I’m back to road biking but only after I convinced the Athletic trainers that I would rather dip my hand in hot, boiling lava than ride a stationary bike for recovery.
Spending 7 + hours a day biking across the country really gives one time to think. Some of that time was spent thinking about what I am going to do after graduation. After talking to others on the trip and researching it, I’m seriously considering the peace core as my next step. Why not? I’m young, adventures, and able to adjust to uncomfortable situations quite comfortably. It’s something that I’ve always wanted to do so I should just go for it. I’m almost finished with my application and if all works out then I could very well be overseas at this time next year.
This past weekend I went and visited Jeff Hunt, a real good bike friend from this summer. He’s from Oregon but his grandma has some relatives down in Missouri so he got “convinced” (funny story how this convincing took place actually) to take her down to visit his all his non-relatives. The weekend was spent with much catching up, much fun, and many old people. Good times.
Other than that I haven’t had time for much else. With 6 am practices, 18hrs of classes (that rhymes), and work, I’ve hardly been able to breath.

Roxanne you don’t have to put on that red dress tonight

2008-08-19T22:16:00.000-07:00

It’s been quite an interesting experience trying to adjust to the “real world” after 2.5 months of doing nothing but biking and of course building. No sleeping on thermorests, no reaching into a Bike and Build community food dish with just my hands, no second lunches, no nice cool weather, and most certainly no peeing on the side of the road. Just today I was driving in my car when I came on a green light that was going to turn red. Before I thought about it I yelled “stopping” and did the appropriate hand signals that a cyclist does to warn the bikers behind him/her that they are stopping. Oh boy.

One realization that I’ve had from biking across America is how strong my sense of adventure really is. Before beginning this 3,800 miles trek across the country I thought that I would do this one crazy thing, become satisfied, and therefore go back to the normal everyday life. The opposite happened. I realized how much I love doing out of the ordinary, eccentric things like this. They make life way more interesting. So what’s next? Graduate. How unconventional (ha!). But what I decided to do next is to start training for the Austin marathon that will take place in February. Besides I miss the out of breath, tiring, sweat dripping, hardcore sport that long distance running is and I’m excited to suffer like that again. So I guess I’ll blog here from time to time about that if anyone is interested. Also………

Top 12 Things I’ve learned from Doing Bike and Build:

1.) What don’t kill you will only make you stronger……. even if you think you might die (Nebraska).
2.) How happy one can be with so few material possessions. I spent most of my summer living out of a bag that I might normally take for a two day journey, sleeping on a thermorest, eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches every day, taking cold showers at times (if there is one at all. Sometimes it might just be a hose), having 3 changes of clothes, sometimes sleeping under the stars, and not having a car! But it was the best summer of my life.
3.) Peanut butter is great on almost anything. Included but not limited to: bread (wow!), eggs, apples, sausage, strawberry pound cake, pineapple shortcake, gummy bears, bananas, pickles, carrots, peanuts, trail mix, cereal, yogurt, and peanut butter cookies.
4.) Peanut butter most certainly does not go on: deli meat, oranges, grapes, and avocadoes.
5.) The wind sucks so much (or should I say blows)
6.) Do not trust Jeff Hunt. Practical jokes are his forte and mine is apparently receiving them.
7.) Do not pass gas in the van.
8.) Most people you meet along the way are extremely nice and generous.
9.) Some are not
10.) One can become awfully close to 30 people over the course of the summer and it is strange when they are all of a sudden gone.
11.) And finally: Do not sleep between Barbra and Mark. It is loud.
12.) Roxanne never puts on a red dress. Only a red light. Oops.

Hey Seattle

2008-08-12T23:04:00.000-07:00

The last post was just way to glomy and didn't really catch the essence of how I feel and what went on. I really can't explain to anyone just how amazing it felt to be running into the pacific coast with my full bike clothes still on. It must have been a site to innocent by standards when 31 bikers in matching attire rode up to the ocean, dropped all bikes on the beach, and ran screaming at the top of their lungs into the icy, frigged waters of Seattle. When we got into the water we then preceded to hug/dunk everyone in site several times over. Of course I forgot to take off my helmet before going into the water so this was even more of a site. At least I remembered to take out my cell phone and camera because not everyone did (sorry Marty and Sophia!) The build up of this actual event wasn't even enough to prepare me for the amazing reality of what actually happened. Many of the rider's friends and family came to cheer us on and watch the entertaining site of all of us plunging into the water. We certainly didn't let them down. I even had the "bright" idea to ride my bike into the salty water. Bad idea. This extremely impulsive decision might have cost me my bike. Afterwards I was told that my whole bike might rust due to the sand and salt water. I cleaned it up right away and now I can only hope for the best.

Aside from the bike accident and telling everyone goodbye, these past few days have been the best and most fun days I've ever had in my life. Sadly this makes leaving Bike and Build so much more difficult. We celebrated my 21st birthday a few days ago which had to have been my favorite birthday ever. Can you say Karaoke? Oh yeah! We had the final banquet on the beach as the sun was setting over the Seattle skyline. I've honestly felt like the last few days have been some amazing dream. The fact that I've gotten here with just a bike still hasn't sunk in. It's going to be so crazy trying to adjust to everyday, normal life. Beds! Hot showers! Fried Food! Yes! I went to explore Seattle today with a few other friends. Seattle is probably one of my favorite big cities I've ever been in (aside from the fact that it rains a lot). The views are amazing and everything is easy to get to. I couldn't see myself living in a big city like this though. I'm a small town girl and will most likely always be one. Well got to go and get my 4 hours of sleep so I can be well rested for a full and exhausting day of travling. Ha! Lack of sleep is the only drawback of these awesome past few days. Check back in for my next and most likely final post that is soon to come. It will sum up th whole trip

Silence

2008-08-12T22:11:00.000-07:00

Oh boy here it goes. I'll try not to be too sappy but it was so sad leaving people after spending every waking hour with them for the past 2.5 months. I've just had to say almost 29 different goodbyes to everyone on the trip with each one getting progressively harder and harder to do. I'm typing this in a silent room at our final host site b/c most everyone has already left. In typical Hannah Wagley fashion I decided to take my time and leave A.L.A.P. (as late as possible). So as it goes I'm one of the last Bike and Builders here. And it's sad. Real sad. For the last few days I've been thinking what it is that I will miss most about this trip. I wasn't sure at the time. Would it be waking up 45 minutes too early to the sound of do-do-du-do-du-du-do because somebody forgot to turn of the stupid alarm? Heck no. Maybe it will be fighting over food like a pack of hungry wolves? Nope. What about taking cold "showers" with the water hose while trying to suppress the natural screams that one tends to do when they have negative whatever degree water running down the pants. Naw. "I'm from Texas ya'll" so that's not how I roll. And now, only when I sit in this strangely silent room writing this, do I actually realize what it is that I will truly miss the most about Bike and Build. Noise. Plain and simple. The natural, unavoidable noise that 31 people make when staying in such close corridors, the noise that at times gets way to annoying even for earplugs, and the noise that typically consists of much worry free and oddly contages laughter. Oh yeah this is way too sappy. The irony is that the peace and quite that I have craved from time to time is finally here and all I want now is some more noise. I guess I could just sing to myself but that's just not the same. I'll consider myself fortunate that I've been able to spend 2.5 months biking across the whole country with some of the most amazing, craziest, and goofiest people that I've ever met in my life

Washington!

2008-08-06T16:35:00.000-07:00

A few days ago we entered our final state. Washington! If you asked me a few months ago how I pictured it to be I would have said that I pictured myself super tan, super excited, and super tired. Well it wasn't exactly like that. For one "super excited" is only one of the many mixed emotions that I've felt. I also felt a little down that this cross country journey is so close to ending. It will feel so strange and slightly sad when I wake up without someone sleeping 2 inches from my face. Or when I'm not woken up in the middle of the night by snoring that sounds like a train (Mark Smiley). Granted I'm not going miss smelling bad morning breath that isn't mine but I know I'll miss all the people that I've gotten to know so well over the course of 2 months and 4,000 miles. I also felt kind of happy because this means I'm a few short days from returning home. I haven't been there very much this summer and I honestly miss it a little.

And who would have ever thought that Washington would look like a desert? The part we've been through is oddly reminiscent of Nebraska. Minus the headwinds. The past few days have been so much fun which makes it even more hard to say goodbye to Bike and Build. We had an amazing build day with the main task being to paint, swam in a sparkling blue lake like you see in the movies (and lost my cell phone there), finally ate an Idaho potato, ate the best watermelon of my life, slept under the stars, saw a weird Lazar light show, flew/biked down a mountain without falling, went to a rodeo, had Gilbert the monkey safety returned to me after being hung out to die (too much to even explain), and I'm turning 21 in 4 days! Whew! Oh and I just got through biking all day in 101 degrees! I got to get acclimated to Texas somehow right? I've also been asked to give a shout out to Glenn and Barbara. So hi!

Hey we have 1.5 weeks to go

2008-07-31T16:30:00.000-07:00

We just had our 3rd and final day off. This was long anticipated and much deserved after so much biking. The days preceding this day off were very fun but very hard. This time we actually had it in a town with a population over 10,000. The only bad thing about this is that you have so much you want to do and see in the awesome city that you could potently end up wearing yourself out. This is what happened. But it was so worth it. Missuala, Montana is one of the most interesting towns I have visited so far. I went to a concert in the park during the morning and floated the river during the evening. Now when you think of a river in Montana your first instinct might not be to get in this river. You might reason that the river could be cold since it is in Montana. Well you must remember that we are all crazy enough to bike across the country so the thought cold river never entered our mind. It should have. As soon as I hit the water I knew that this would be an interesting experience. It got so cold that after an hour of continues shivering I decided to get out and walk along the highway for the rest of the way. A few other of my warm blooded friends had the same idea. This wasn't the most comfortable experience of my life but at least I can say that I floated a river in Montana.

Other that this the days have continued in regular fashion. Wake up at 5:00, leave by 7:00, lunch at mile 40ish, 2nd lunch at mile 70ish (for long days), 3rd lunch on your own (if only you knew how much we ate), get into town, nap, snack, check out town, write post cards, dinner, other stuff, snack, and sleep. And I'm still hoping to see a bear. From a safe distance.

Ok this is going to be long but worth the read

2008-07-26T20:23:00.000-07:00

This week has been the best week at Bike and Build so far. So we did the infamous Teton pass a few days ago. And it was epic. The Teton pass is named after the famous Rocky Teton Mountains of Wyoming. Everyone had been talking it up for days so most of us were prepared for the hardest day of the trip. It wasn't. The climb started at the beginning of a bike friendly trail and ended about 4 or 5 miles later. Granted it was steep (about 10% a grade the whole time) but doable. There were actually times when my front wheel would go up but that might just be due to my riding style. I didn't stop the whole way up. Now this isn't because I'm an amazing cyclist. Nope. But rather because I thought that if I stopped and took a break then I wouldn't have the energy of willpower to continue (Ha!) The best part came at the top when a few others who were already there had music going from the van and were cheering everyone else on. As more and more riders got to the top we formed a line and hit (friendly tap) the riders as they were nearing the top. We then proceeded to have a mini celebration consisting of a dance party and a peanut butter, banana, and raisin sandwich. Oh and the 2 mile descent was pretty cool too.

A few days ago I did a pretty amazingly stupid but cool thing (ok more stupid in retrospect but cool at the time). I got dangerously close to a wild buffalo at Teton national park. I was riding along when I spotted a huge hunk of fur walking in the field of the national park. Of course I call over Michael and Frannie to check it out with me so I would feel safer (like 2 other people can defend me against a 500 lb wild beast). After we realized that it wasn’t a bear (yes there was a short time when we thought it was and ran away as fast as possible) we got a few up close snap shots of the thing and attracted a whole entourage of RVs. That same day we also got to go over the continental divide which was over 9,000 feet. No wonder I was out of breath all day.

We entered Montana yesterday. I believe there’s no better welcome into a state than a 3 mile down hill right after the state line and that’s what we got. Me and Montana are going to get along great!

One of the reasons (one of many) why this week has been so amazing is that headwinds are almost non-existent here. I’ll take big mountains over the windy plains any day. Yeah going up a mountain is hard but at least you get some nice scenery going up it and a sweet reward at the top. A downhill! But with windy plains there is no reward or anything to look forward to. It just a vast hopelessness of fighting the wind the whole way while seeing cornfield after cornfield after cornfield after cornfield after dang cornfield. We also got to go to Yellowstone National Park yesterday. We took a swim in the Yellowstone river which was so awesome. Until we saw the leaches. On us. But that problem was quickly resolved and it turned out to be a great evening. Oh and we saw a bear up close. But in the safety of our van.

Another great thing about this week is that we actually had hosts who took us into their house overnight. I can barely remember the last time we were in a house or for that matter the last time we slept in a real bed (3 times). Or took a shower when it wasn’t cold or when someone wasn’t rushing you. It was a big highlight of the week. Especially because they had a hot tube and 3 cute little children. Thanks Mrs. Dona! All in all one of the best weeks ever and I haven’t even written half of it.

Surreal sunsets and snow caked mountain tops

2008-07-20T13:19:00.000-07:00

Random collection of facts and thoughts

~Wyoming is the most awesome state ever.

~Surprisingly, the vast expanse of space and sparse population of the state do not make it boring (unlike Nebraska). In fact it is these characteristics that work to give it a type of rustic and enchanting feel.

~ I spent an afternoon on a real Wyoming ranch. I got to milk goats for the first time and feed the milk to baby sheep. No I did not drink this milk nor did I have an impulse to do so.

~ My total Number of flat tires: 9

~ Average number of flat tires: 4

~ Most number of flat tires by one person: 16 (sorry Emily!)

~ Total number of cemeteries passed: 125ish

~ We did another century ride yesterday in Wyoming. It went very well and was so much easier than riding 77 miles straight into the wind.

~ The day we did the century we didn't pass one town that had more than 30 people. We only passed one single gas station. Literaly 100 miles of nothing.

~ I think we are one day away from being in the Rockies.

~We just met a man on the road who is biking 17,000 miles around America. He has been on the road for 3 years now. Wow.

~ We are about to climb the Tetons of Wyoming. It is said that many cars will honk at cyclists going up this. Not because of impatience but for encouragement to complete the seemingly crazy task at hand. Hmmmm. Or maybe they honk as if to say "what the heck are you thinking".

~We are now in Grizzly Country. I don't think the dog pepper spray I carry on my bike would work on a bear. Let's not find out.

~ I just passed a town with a population of 1. Yes that's right 1. I got a picture

~ Jeff Hunt and Mark Smiley thew me into a moving river. It was cold. And wet

~ 2.5 weeks until we reach the coast of Seattle.

Oh boy I can't wait for Wyoming

2008-07-14T09:57:00.000-07:00

What do you call 3 trees beside each other in Nebraska? A forest! We are almost out of Nebraska and all I can say is whoa. It is our day off today and it is much needed (we get 3 complete days off this summer)! This week we biked approximately 495 miles with 104, 77, 88, 84, 95, 47. Whew! It was certainly the most challenging state I have biked through yet and I'm sure most everyone else can agree with this statement. Imagine 25mph winds. Now imagine biking straight into these winds for 90 miles while staring at cornfields for hours. Towns are few and far between. I have literally ridden through many "towns" here where the population signs read 50 people or less(one had 9 people!) We are in the middle of nowhere. This will drive anyone insane. Riding in these conditions and this atmosphere is what we did for the past 6 days. Although some days the wind was much better than on other days. If we got lucky, we rode into crosswinds which are a nice break from tailwinds. Yet strong crosswinds threaten to fling you off your bike and into oncoming traffic (if there is any) and fighting to stay on your bike can sure make one tired.

One of the biggest challenges of the week had to be staying properly hydrated. We're basically out in the middle of nowhere and if you run out of water then it can potentially be a problem. The trip leaders did a great job in making sure we got the H20 and Gatorade we needed. It's strange because this crazy wind will blow all the sweat off of you and one might be tricked into thinking that they haven't produced much sweat. Oh but they have. These past few days I've gotten into a situation where I wasn't consuming enough electrolytes. This can make for some pretty tough days. Without the aid of essential electrolytes, exhaustion comes much easier and faster. A few of the riders found me just siting in the sun on the side of the road. I just had one of those moments where I couldn't peddle another stroke. They took me into some shade, gave me some electrolytes, and off I went. Also one of the riders took it upon himself to make sure I had enough Gatorade when I got in from biking (because I was acting really stange)and was constantly making me drink the whole afternoon. Times like these (and many other times this week) have really shown me that none of us could get through without the constant help and encouragement of people in our group.

While it is a safe statement to say that Nebraska isn't one of my favorite states, the challenge of it makes one a stronger cyclist. The fact that we biked directly into the strong, prevailing winds for the majority of the time will certainly make the upcoming Rockies easier to handle. The large distances between each "town" allowed us opportunities to come up with creative ways to pass the time while on the bike. Aside from counting road kill (oh boy what fun), we managed to have "dance parties" on the side of the road. On certain days we do this in 13 mile increments so we can celebrate that fact that we are 13 miles closer from being out of the state of Nebraska. We get off the bike, turn on the portable speakers, and dance. Didn't I say Nebraska will make anyone insane? To give it credit this state did have some pretty cool things. There was a fossil museum that me and some of the other riders explored. It was worth biking 8 miles out of the way because you got to see some amazing fossils that had once roamed Nebraska (not the fossils but the actual animal). Apparently Nebraska once had a climate like Africa where Rhinos and elephants roamed. Well I could write so much more about this amazingly intense and awesome week but my time is running up in the library.

"What are Hushpupies?"

2008-07-09T14:36:00.000-07:00

So I underestimated the distance that we had actually traveled. According to other rider's odometers we are now actually about 1,850 miles into the ride. This means that yesterday was actually our halfway day! To celebrate we rode 104 miles. Ha! Ok so that was actually already on the trip schedule and had nothing to do with our halfway celebration. But it was still cool that we had our first century (100 miles) ride that day. All in all my first century went really well. Most everyone else felt the same way. I've learned that you can ride way farther than you think you can as long as you have several rest stops, fun people, an overabundence of food, an optimistic view, hills to keep you sane, and of course ice cream. Fun people is probably the most important thing on the list. We've invented several games along the way to keep the entertainment level high. This includes: A.) Seeing how long you can scream while going down a hill (I won), B.) Getting 18 wheelers to honk at you, C.) Counting the number of road kill per mile, D.) Playing "would you rather" (I can't even explain), E.) Playing the spelling game (I lose or should I say loose) We were just so exhausted by the end of the day due to our 4:30 a.m wakeup, 90 degree heat, and of course 104 miles. I was asleep by 7:23 p.m.

We are in Nebraska now. If Nebraska is half as nice as Iowa then I will be happy. So far Iowa has been my favorite state. Who would have thought Iowa would have been so amazingly beautiful and hilly? On a sad note 2 of our riders had to leave. Julie, a national competitor in tae kwon do, received a broken arm from doing tae kwon do at the YMCA and Hanah had to leave for a while to be with a friend in need. But we plan for both to be back soon. They will be greatly missed by all.

On an interesting side note, I found it very funny that most the people on this trip do not know what a hushpuppy is. That's like asking what a French fry is! I never knew that hushpuppies were such a southern food. I also never relized how different things could be up here. Today I had to discribe what a fire ant and a red wasp was. Also, the amount of fried food consumed up here is like 1/4 the amount that would be consumed where I'm from. One of the first things I'm going to eat when I get back is chicken fried steak smothered in gravy (also a dish that many have never heard of) But I love learning new things and seeing how other people do stuff.

1,350 miles and counting

2008-07-02T14:25:00.000-07:00

So we're in Iowa now. Is there less corn? Yes! And more hills! (I love hills) But the wind is still here and I feel it is too stubborn to leave anytime soon. So the States I have successfully biked through so far are: Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, PA, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. Before this trip I had only been to one of these states (New York). We still have Iowa, Nebraska, Wyoming, Idaho, Montana (really looking forward to that one) and of course Seattle. None of which I have ever visited. We've already biked about 1,350 miles, passed 81 cemeteries and countless roadkill, fallen about 17 times (approximate group total), and got approximately 3 flat tires per person ( I beat the average with a total of 8 flat tires). I think either next week or the week after that is our halfway point. Wow how time flys when you're having fun!

Yesterday I had one of the best rides I've had on this entire trip. It was early morning, the wind hadn't really picked up yet, the sky was blue, it was nice and cool, and the birds were chirping. It was just really pretty. I think I've finally made my peace with the flatness and found the beauty of cornfields. Afterwards, we all went to a pool party that one of the previous Bike and Builders hosted. It was a blast! A perfect ending to a perfect day. Today was a little tougher (82 miles) but was interesting. Some of us stopped at the Dairy Queen for a break. I've found we make plenty of food stops. The local news reporters just happened to be there and we got on T.V. They just asked us a few questions about the organization and filmed us riding around the parking lot. I'm glad we got some good press for afordable housing.

Against the Wind

2008-06-30T12:32:00.000-07:00

Well it's been a while since I've posted. Sorry. Between the lack of internet access and being super tired everyday I come in, I just haven't been able to blog. We've all a sudden had a big increase in daily millage. The past few days have been something like 96, 85, 89, 79, 93, 49 miles and I am tired! Today is our first official day off! We have 0 miles planed and we're not building any houses. So to recap the past week. We've moved out of the mountains and hills and are now in the plains. The scenery went from constantly changing amazing views seen from the tops of hills to um...... cornfields. And more cornfields. I have to say that the plains aren't my favorite but every place is beautiful in it's own way. And I have a long while to discover this beauty. The hardest thing about the plains are the non-stop winds. Normally, when one bikes across the country, they go from west to east in order to have the summer westward ends at there backs. But I guess Bike and Build choses to start in on the east coast and head westward because biking across the country isn't hard enough for us. Ha! So what does this mean? Well the Midwest winds are blowing directly against us about 90% of the time with winds ranging anywhere from 17 to 45mph. I've never experienced anything like this before. The added challenge of these winds will only make Seattle more rewarding.

We had a build day about a week ago and it was very memorable. Our task was drywalling and cementing which went well but requires patience. The chief of police of Dayton, Ohio came to say a few words to all of us and we got on the news. That afternoon our hosts all gave us tickets to the professional AAA baseball game to watch the Dayton Dragons. And that morning we had police escorts to escort us out of Dayton. I'd visit this place again. We went through the states of Ohio, Indiana, and we're working getting out of Illinois. Next is Iowa and I'm really hoping to see less corn. We'll I have to go b/c I'm borrowing somebody's computer and they want it back but I'll still try to post as much as possible. Thanks for the support.

How's your butt?

2008-06-19T13:17:00.000-07:00

This seems to be the most common question asked among the group. This fact implies 3 things: 1.) Most have butt problems of some form. Anything ranging from saddle sores too bad some have to miss a day of riding to bruises on the butt (my butt's fine actually. I'm just having a lot bike problems). But when you spend most of your summer sitting on a seat that is half a size of your butt, it is not that surprising. 2.) That we as a group actually care enough about one another to ask about the current butt situation. We realize that help and support from each other is crucial if we want to reach the West coast. Everyone is pretty much considerate of each other's problems and want to help out in any way. 3.) That we have actually gotten close enough in the 2 weeks that we have known each other to ask about the delicate situation of a person's butt. Gender is not an issue. Iwould say that more is learned about someone here in a 2 week time period than elsewhere in a 6 month time period. Even if there are some things you rather not know. And we have 8 more weeks.

Yesterday was a tough day. I woke up to the sound of rain coming down hard on the roof. It did not stop. On top of that we left when is was 51 degrees out side. It was so cold that I could see my breath. Oh and did I mention it was raining. I put on 4 layers of clothes. As Nike says "Just do it". And I did it. And it was so much more fun than I would have anticipated. Yeah we were all cold,wet, and shaking at lunch, but other than that it was an epic ride. The presence of cars had decreased due to the weather and the dogs where hiding in their houses. So we had the roads to ourselfs. After doing a ride like that I can now say that we are all now officially cyclists. Our accommodations were excellent too. We stayed at a church where the preacher was an avid cyclists. He got us all the gear we needed. And he fixed my bike! I was having so much trouble shifting gears that I was told I would have to buy a new derailer. I had already spent a lot of money on other bike problems on the trip that I didn't want to have to buy a new derailer too. In case I haven't mentioned, I've had way too many bike problems than is normal. I've already had to buy a new wheel, tire, tubes, etc. But this awesome guy just happened to have an extra derailer laying around so he totally fixed it. Now I don't have to get off my bike and manually shift it with my fingers (it's what i had been doing) Oh and now we are in Ohio. So it's been Rhode Island, Conneticute, New York, PA, and Ohio. And I need to rest up for tomorrow b/c I think we have like an 85ish ride tomorrow up mountains.

Hey

2008-06-17T13:38:00.000-07:00

Daily Mileage so far:
35
54
51
42
83
70
off
74
57
58
40
We'll start getting up there in mileage until we average about 70 per day.

Extra mileage due to getting lost: 44
Graveyards passed: 39 (not to sure why I'm keeping up with this)
Current Elevation: 2424 (I think)
Dead deers on the side of the road: 3 or 4
Fastest Speed going down a mountain: 40ish (used the breaks the whole time)
Speed going up a mountain: ha!
Total flat tires for me: 5

So I feel like I pee way more on the side of the road than I do in an actual toilet. So far it's been going great (not the peeing just the actual trip. Although I guess that's going great too.). We're in the second week into the trip and this is by far the easiest of the 2. The first week was like a body shock and this week I think I'm certainly beginning to adjust. Except for today. Today was for sure the worst day of the trip. We woke up and it was like 55* outside. We all thought it would warm up b/c well this is the summer. Then it started raining. Then my gears wouldn't shift correctly and I was stuck with one hard gear for climbing the mountains. Then my knees started getting to me b/c of the hard gears. Then we all started shivering and shaking. In the summer! Then I got into the support van for the remainder of the ride. But if that's the hardest day yet then I think it's pretty good. Plus I still have a lot of extra miles stored up from getting lost that I'm still above the projected total mileage. I hope I can get my bike fixed before tomorrow so I can ride. (I've been having a lot of bike problems)

But I'm through talking about the bad stuff b/c there are so many cool things on this trip. Me and a few other riders went to the grand canyon of Pennsylvania. It was only 10 miles out of the way and was so worth it. It's no Arizona but it was pretty cool. We got tons of pictures and it was overall a great day. Actually everyday has been great. I'm getting used to getting up a 6:00 every morning and riding these crazy mountains. I'm getting used to sleeping on the floor with the next person half a finger width away (we are very cramped for space here) The views on the mountains are incredible and are totally worth the climb. Another bear was spotted by someone else on the trip. I wish there was more time to type but these little boys are waiting for me to get off so they can play video games :( Oh and we got to stay at the YMCA today and it has a steam room! And showers with curtains! Yay!

Hi

2008-06-12T18:11:00.000-07:00

There's so much to say and so little time b/c people are waiting for me to get off the Internet. We've been to Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, and Pennsylvania. It's been 6 days into the trip and all I can say is Wow! The tough times and the good times have varied about as much as the terrain. And this is the mountains! The former is usually experienced about halfway up the 6 mile climb to get to the mountain. But, thankfully, the fun times are much more prevalent. It usually happens when I'm flying down a mountain at 40t miles per hour. The hard time comes when you run into a huge pot hole going this speed. As I have found, this isn't good for the body or bike (but I didn't fall!) The coolest thing was when we spotted an amazing waterfall. Everyone then preceded to strip down to bike shorts and sports bra and jump in. Cool stuff like this happens all the time on this trip. Also one of the girls on the trip (Frannie) spotted a bear crossing the road not to far in front of her. The constant companionship from a variety of people with different backgrounds and view has also been great. The last few days of trials have made us really grow closer as a group and it's only been a week! By the end of this trip we'll be like a big family.

The hardest and also the most epic day was yesterday. On the trip we hadn't ridden more than 53 miles and we had 73 miles scheduled for yesterday. Most of this was to be ridden up a mountain with a 200ft to 1,200 feet elevation gain. Well we all got lost. We ended up riding 83 miles with the majority being up a mountain. Including breaks, it took 11 hours. Without breaks it took about 9.5 hours of pure pedaling. The people that I rode with made it so much more fun. We were all a little loopy by mile 62 from pure exhausting work and after that we pretty much just laughed the whole time. I fell down going up a hill and couldn't get up after that for a while b/c we were just laughingso hard. Cars were driving by wondering what the heck was going on. But when we got to our host we knew we had it made. We are used to sleeping on the floor of gyms but this host gave us keys to a resort. Sweet! We had our own beds and everything. The best day so far! The sense of achievement felt after a day like that is indescribable and can only be felt after pushing through intense pain.

Providence!

2008-06-06T12:21:00.000-07:00

Well the past few days have been great. I managed to squeeze everything I'll be using in a little bitty bag. I only have 3 shirts for the whole trip. I also managed to successfully navigate to the city of Providence which is an accomplishment in itself. No lost luggage and no missed flights. We've just been hanging around here in Providence for orientation for the past few days. Tomorrow is when we officially leave on our bikes to start this thing. We're all just getting to know each other since we'll be spending almost every waking hour together for the next 2.5 months. Everyone is great and very easy to get along with. They're the only people besides me who doesn't think biking across the country is crazy (hmmm wonder why?) The only problem is slight communication difficulties. Most everyone is from the north so I have to get asked a few times to repeat what I just said. Especially the word oil. Lets just say that the southern draw isn't very common here! But it's actually a very refreshing change and highlights the diversity of America.

We had a short 20 mile "shakedown" ride yesterday around the city of Providence which was absolutely insane. The city, I've learned, is somewhere we're I never want to ride again. Cars, stoplights, and clipless pedals do not go together. In case you don't know what clipless pedals are, it is a type of pedal that you actually clip into (kinda like skis). So basically you're stuck in these pedals unless you do a certain twisting motion to get out. This twisting motion must be learned or you will fall for inability to get out of the peddles. It's great for biking because you are able to pull up as well as down which is more efficient. Yet it is not so great for the stopping and starting that is common in the city. Well apparently the city didn't phase anyone else and they were able to get out of the pedals fast enough. Not me. I was the first fall of the trip. And so far the only. But hey at least I'll go down in the books as the first. It was in a very nice, soft patch in the grass and I just sort of tumbled over in front of the red light. Good thing that 95% of our riding will be out if the crazy city.

P.S: And get this. I just had to close the window to my dorm (where we're staying at) because I got to cold. Ha!

I'll miss you bed

2008-06-01T14:25:00.000-07:00

Goodbye nice soft pillow. Head, get used to sleeping on wadded up shirts for the next 2.5 months. Legs, get used to working overtime (extra, extra, overtime). Butt, well…… what can I say? Become buns of steel? Maybe I can hope for that but I’ll be content with just being able to sit down everyday. I am ecstatic about starting this long, and much anticipated event. Although I don’t want to be deluded into thinking that biking across America will a bucket full of peaches and cream (or cherries). In fact, in a sense these next 2.5 months could very well be the toughest and most challenging time of my life. Yet I feel that these next few months will also be saturated with many laughs, thrills, good times and in short, adventure. The unknown is what scares but it’s also what enthuses me. And I can’t wait to start building houses for people. Yeah, I’ll have fun. Yeah, I’ll be extremely tired. Yeah, I’ll fall a few times. Yeah, I’ll hit my hand with the hammer (I’ll just stay away from the nail gun!) But it will be one amazing ride.

P.S. Thanks to all who have supported me. Thanks to all who have read this blog. I’m not taking my computer on the trip so my blogs might be far between. But I promise I’ll document the trip every chance I get. Keep me in your prayers. I’ll need it! Thanks!

Running? Cycling?

2008-05-28T19:44:00.000-07:00

Just got through with a run. I’ve been away from my bike for 3 days (it's headed to Rhode Island) so I’ve been running to keep whatever fitness I may have (Ha!). And boy is it slow! I feel like I’m just trudging along mile after mile but hey at least I’m not breathing hard! On top of that my I-pod just stopped working so I can’t listen to it when I run. I might not have one for this trip now. Biking has spoiled me and now running just seems a little on the boring side. Don’t get me wrong, running is my first and last. But not my only. It pays my way through college and I know I’ll run for the rest of my life or until I can’t get out of bed. Honestly though cycling is so much more fun! Not better or worse, just more exciting. Running feeds my competitive drive and cycling um…….. not so much. When I bike I feel like I can just stop whenever I want and do whatever I want without having to keep a certain pace. Is that the most amazing view ever? Well I can stop and take a picture. They sell the world’s best hamburgers here? Well I can get off and decide for myself. With running its get in, get out, and try to beat the previous time (sometimes). I love doing that. They are both great but for completely different reasons. I just thought I should put that out there as my I-pod is broken and this is what I think about as I’m running along. I’m so ready to get on my bike again. Then again I’m sure there will be a few times this summer after cycling every day when I would prefer to lace up my running shoes than my bike shoes!

Dehydration pretty much sucks

2008-05-26T20:01:00.000-07:00

It so hot down here in Texas and Arkansas! The heat here is unbelievable and I can’t wait to go up north and avoid all this heat during the summer. Although I’m sure it can get hot there too. The last few of my rides where so slow and hard so I got really worried that I was losing it. Then it dawned on me that it’s probably due to the fact that I’m riding in 90+ temperatures with 70+ humidity. I attempted a 70 mile ride just a few days ago and it was an absolute disaster. I couldn’t drink fast enough from my camel back to make up for the sweat I was losing. It ended up with me laying spread out on the side of the road (no I didn’t fall I was just chillen). I couldn’t so much as move my big toe without getting these intense cramps. But luckily I ended up getting back safely (after 50 total miles) without puking or running into things that I kept seeing two of. I really wish cyclist were around this area that I could ride with because it wouldn’t have been too scary. I’ve actually never cycled with anyone before unless you count riding around the street when I was a kid. I’m really happy that they’ll be plenty of people to ride with and keep me company because it gets a little board riding by myself for 4+ hours in tight cycling pants while weirdoes honk at me. But anyways back to dehydration. It really wasn’t that big of a deal but I learned some great lessons as far as dehydration is concerned. Drink as much as possible. It’s much better to pee on the side of the rode than lay spread out on the side of the road. Despite these few difficulties, I’m extremely ready and excited to start this thing. In exactly 8 days I’ll leave for Providence. I just boxed up my bike today because I’m sending it to DHL tomorrow so for the next 8 days I’ll have run instead of bike. I’ve got to stop writing so I can go study (mini semesters aren’t fun) Bye!

Such is the Life of a Cyclist

2008-05-19T08:11:00.000-07:00

I’ve never understood the infatuation dogs have with cyclists. Maybe infatuation isn’t the word, maybe it’s more like um………. hate. What about a bike makes a dog want to chase it down and try to bite the cyclist? I must have been chased by at least a dozen dogs today. I’m starting to fear dogs more than cars and I find myself picking routes based on how dog populated it is rather than on how safe it is car wise. I really do like dogs a lot and they seem to like me but we just don’t seem to get along when I’m sitting on a bike. And honestly I don’t understand owners who don’t lock up their dogs when they know that they’re dangerous and try to bite people. I just feel like this is irresponsible and inconsiderate of others. What ever happened to social responsibility? And really half the dogs that chase me aren’t trying to do anything more than run beside me while barking. I don’t have a problem with this as long as they stay away from my tire. But I’ve learned to tell the difference between a nice one that wants to play and one that wants a piece of leg. I’ve encountered the latter many, many times today and I’m almost out of pepper spray because of this. Plus I seem to have gotten a little on myself and can’t stop sneezing. But enough of my ranting. I feel better now but I just wish people would lock up their mean dogs, especially the pit bulls.

Holy Hill

2008-05-13T19:40:00.000-07:00

Note: this post is completely random and tends to go from one thought to the next quickly. But I’m a pretty random person so it just comes natural. Feel free to skip over my rambling wherever you feel is necessary. Yesterday was my first time to successfully change my bike tube all by myself! I’m pretty proud that I did it myself without any help but all it takes is a little patience and time. I must have had a really good tube because it lasted for about 400 miles. Anyways today I had a 30 mile bike ride planed for after class since I had already ran quite a bit before class. I thought 30 wouldn’t be bad at all but I decided to do this on a new trail (actually it was a highway with cars swooshing by but it had a pretty good shoulder so I’ll call it a trail). Well it ended up being the single hilliest ride I’ve ever done in my life. Arkansas really is hilly compared to where I’m from (Texas for all of ya’ll who do not know). It ended up being pretty hard but I’m very glad I found this new “trail” because it’ll be great training for the 3 weeks I’ll be in Arkansas. I almost averaged 16 mph and I honestly have no clue how fast or slow this is because I’m new to this cycling thing. If I had to guess though I would say it’s more on the slow side. Hopefully that will improve as I start to ride with people and get used to cycling. When I first started cycling, which wasn’t that long ago, I was averaging a little under 12 mph and riding 15 miles was a huge accomplishment so I think I’ve come a long way. I’m no stranger to endurance sports as I have run cross country competitively for the last 8 years. I think my cross country background will help me a little with cycling. Or at least I won’t be surprised at the pain that comes from cycling great distances. I was actually worried when I made the commitment to do Bike and Build that cycling all summer without running any would have a negative effect on my cross country season this fall. Ha! Then I realized that biking up to 115 a day (average 70) isn’t exactly like I’m sitting on the couch all day watching Dr. Phil and eating ding dongs. Hey I might even come back in even better shape. And if not it’s all good because I would have rode with some neat people, helped others, and obtained some amazing tan lines. I guess that’s it and now I have to go study :( Peace

24 days!

2008-05-11T21:32:00.001-07:00

I can’t believe how fast time has gone and how close I am to the start of the trip. It’s really going to happen! In about 3 weeks I’ll be sitting on a seat that is half the size of my butt while sweating like crazy for 4-9 hours everyday. All in all I’m pretty excited but I have to admit I’m a little nervous. There’s always the question in the back of my mind asking if I’ve trained enough for this. Then I realized the other day that one can’t really train “enough” for this. In order to be fully prepared you’d have to spend like 5 hours a day on the bike and that’s just not gonna happen. I mean we’re going to be going over the Rockies. The freaking mountains! I think the best thing to do training wise is to get in shape enough so your body won’t go through complete shock at the fact that it’s got to peddle 70 miles per day. I believe I’ve done that. Ok so I hope I’ve done that. We’ve still got 3 good weeks and although I still have to be here at college to take a mini semester for that whole time, I think I can get in a few good rides.
As far as gear goes, I’ve got most if not all my bike supplies (still contemplating on aero bars) I finally broke down and bought a seat that actually allows me to sit down after riding :) I also realized that butt cream for chaffing is most certainly something that one should never skip on to save money. I learned the hard way that butt cream is right up there with food. You need it or you will not survive. It’s going to be one amazing summer!

Minivans

2008-04-21T16:13:00.000-07:00

So I had a very interesting but unfortunately unpleasant experience with a driver while biking yesterday. It ends up with an older woman in a minivan chasing me down. But I’m getting ahead of myself and should probably start from the beginning. Well I’m riding down the back roads, enjoying myself, singing a little song, and just taking in the scenery. Out of nowhere this women, who looks to be in mid 50’s, drives toward me but won’t move to the left or right(it’s a narrow road). There’s nowhere for me to go but somehow I narrowly miss her. It was one of my closest calls. So as she’s driving away I turn around and do the whole hand motion that involves shrugging your shoulders and moving your hands upward as if to say “hey what is that all about”. I continue riding and brewing about the incident but about a minute later I see the infamous minivan coming up on my side. This lady is yelling something out of her window looking pretty mad. She continues in this aggressive manner until I realize what she’s saying. She’s like “hey did you just flip me off?” Um nope I didn’t. I just give her a confused look until she drives off. So apparently shrugging your shoulders and raising your hands up isn’t something you should do because it looks as if you’re giving someone the bird. I guess next time I won’t do that. What’s so funny about the whole situation is that it’s an older lady in a minivan chasing me down. A minivan! I always thought that it would be like some big muscled up dude on a Harley that would tend to be aggressive toward cyclists. I’m just not used to dealing with aggressive drivers. It’s just weird to me that this would happen because in the small southern towns that I ride in everyone is really friendly. I wave, they wave. It’s generally a great area to ride. The only thing I worry about are the dogs chasing me and trying to bite. But sometimes…….

Goal!!!

2008-04-08T19:37:00.000-07:00

Holy cow doesn’t even cover it this time. I met my fundraising goal! I can’t believe it! To say that the generosity of so many friends and family is overwhelming would be an understatement. I can’t say thank ya’ll enough. You have made this trip possible for me as well as contributed to the affordable housing cause. Thank you!!!!

This trip is getting closer and closer. And the fact that I’m biking across the country is becoming more real. It’s finally beginning to dawn on me. A few months ago biking across the country seemed so far away and almost like a dream. But this is actually happening and I can’t be more excited (although a little bit more nervous as I get closer). Honestly, I’m going to miss my bed w/ electric blanket, hot showers, transportation involving gas, and my running shoes. But all of this is going to be replaced with amazing things, all to be experienced with the company of amazing people, who I haven’t even met yet. In less than two months I’ll be dipping my back wheel into the Atlantic Ocean only to dip my front wheel into the Pacific a few months after that (its a Bike and Build custom).

Yesterday I did a 60 mile bike ride just to make sure that I could. It’s the most I’ve ever done in my life! I got a little lost at the end and actually missed one of my classes but at least I now know that I can do it now. And the weird thing about it is that today I didn’t feel sore at all (although the ride itself was pretty difficult) and actually got in a 5 mile run today. This is a very good sign since we’ll be biking more than that every day. It was a great ride all in all, no wind and very good scenery. But I did learn lesson # 5: do not hide your camelback (only source of water) on the side of the road at the beginning of the ride to lighten the load. I thought I would just take it off for a second and come back to get it after I finished checking how far a certain road will go. This is incredibly dumb. The road ending up being way longer than I ever thought, my exploring side wanted to check it out, and long story short I didn’t come back for it until mile 55. Needless to say I was very dehydrated but the lesson learned was worth it: stupidity makes one awfully thirsty.

Cows aren’t really holy but......

2008-03-26T16:23:00.000-07:00

Holy Cow! I just opened my Bike and Build account to check for any new donations and boy was I surprised! I just had an influx of so many generous donations from friends and family. I just wanted to say thanks so much to everyone. You all have helped out tremendously and I’m well over half way to my $4,000 mark. I consider myself blessed to even be presented with this unusual opportunity and even more so for the encouragement and support of friends and family. Ya’ll have turned a bad, study filled day, to a super fantastic day and I am grateful.
As far as training goes, I’ve gotten in a few 50 mile rides over the course of spring break. So I think it’s going pretty good and I’m thankful that the weather has cooperated. I honestly don’t see me doing too many rides of that distance as I try finish up the semester. My goal is just to do a little riding or running everyday to keep in shape. Paper and project deadlines are getting closer and the workload isn’t getting any lighter. College, you gotta love it.

Riding against the wind is like swimming up stream

2008-03-17T15:31:00.000-07:00

It’s times like this when I wish I weighed more than I actually do. I’ve never ridden in wind like I did today and the whole time I had to fight to keep from being pushed over. It was a constant 17mph with gusts at 27mph. I’m not too sure how that compares to the winds on the plains that I’ll be riding through but I hope it won’t be that bad. But something tells me it will and that I better just get used to it. The good thing is that I got in a 50 mile (the most I’ve done so far) ride facing the wind for the majority of the time and I felt pretty good. Though I must admit there were those times when I just wanted to throw my bike on the ground out of frustration and say a few choice words. But I didn’t. Other than that I’m just enjoying my spring break by doing nothing. It's great

Can't wait

2008-03-13T21:52:00.001-07:00

So I finally did it. I finally fell off my bike! I guess fell off isn’t the right word to use since my bike was still attached to me by the clipless pedals. I’m not exactly too sure what happened but my chain did this weird thing in the middle of changing gears. It basically got stuck and the pedals wouldn’t turn. I was going up a steep hill, lost momentum, and fell. I didn’t suffer a severe injury, just a few scratches. I’m just glad I got it over with and now know it’s not so bad. I’m also thankful for this amazing weather here. It’s been sunny and 70 for the past few days so I’ve gotten in some great rides. I feel bad for my fellow Bike and Builders up north who probably can’t get out to ride because of the cold. I’m so ready to do Bike and Build this summer! There will be no research papers, neuroscience tests, sitting in class rooms, studying until odd hours of the night or figuring out what to wear the next day (highly fashionable bike shorts every day!) Although I’m not going to lie, I will miss my comfy bed w/ my electric blanket. It will just be me, a bunch of other crazy people, and the open road. We’ll be doing our best to lend a hand to those in need and pedaling like crazy every day while sweating bullets. Can’t wait

Hey. It's been a while

2008-03-04T16:46:00.000-08:00

Well I’ve been really busy here lately. Classes are getting more demanding as the semester wears on and I’ve been doing my best to prepare for this upcoming summer. I got in a 40 mile bike ride the other day. It’s the most I’ve ever done by far and actually went really well. I felt like I could do more and I wasn’t sore the next day (it was still difficult though) On top of that I didn’t fall of my bike once! My goal is to do one really long ride once a week and increase the distance by five or ten each time until I get my mileage up there. Then the rest of the week I plan to run or bike some more. The only problem I foresee in this is finding the time. But I’m sure if I practice better time management (less facebook!) then I can get it done.

There is also a possibility that I’ll be able to go back to New Orleans during spring break and help build houses again. It was a good experience when I went a few months ago and I thought I’d learn even more going back again. The only problem is getting the money to do it because right now most the cash I get goes to my Bike and Build fundraising goal of $4,000.

I just got through running my 3rd half marathon. I’ve been training for that so now since that’s over I can really start training on my bike more. This half marathon was my worst and slowest one yet (maybe b/c of the heat) but I’ll leave out the gory details (just look at the before and after pictures on facebook) I’ll just say that at this moment walking down the stairs right now is barely manageable and a jog around the block is unthinkable. But I’m sure I’ll experience soreness like this countless times as I bike across the country so I need to adopt a suck it up type attitude and go for a run or a ride tomorrow.

My cool new bike

2008-02-19T11:15:00.000-08:00

So I finally got my new bike a few days ago. It’s a specialized Allez triple and I’m sure that means nothing to most of ya’ll. I didn’t know what one was a month ago either. And let me tell you I was missing out.. Before getting the bike I had never sat my butt down on a real road bike. I just rode around on hybrids and thought that was fun. But I just took the Allez on a test drive and it was amazing! I didn’t realize what a huge difference a road bike makes. It’s so much faster, easier, and just simply more fun. I went on a 28 mile ride and that felt much easier than if I did a 15 mile ride on my hybrid. This bike most defiantly gives me more confidence about riding cross America. I have to admit though it’s going to take some getting used to. The bent over riding position of a road bike will probably make me a hunch back for life (hey we’re riding 4-8 hours a day). Due to my substantial lack of coordination, the clip-on pedals will probably cause me to fall over a few times while trying to get on (but that’s what helmets are for!). But all in the entire bike is amazingly amazing :) and I can’t wait to ride it this summer! So I better leave you with that thought before I sound too much like a bike commercial.

It's hard to think of a good title for these things

2008-02-04T19:54:00.000-08:00

Well I still have a flat tire. That means my total bike milage this week is 0. But I've been running a lot so I'm not too worried. I got in a good hilly 10 miler the other day so if I can run the hills then my theory is that I can bike them too. I think :) The awesome news is my new bike is about a week or two away from being here and then I'll really get in some good training. Oh I got a job at our university starbucks. I'm pretty happy about that because 1.)it gives me extra money to get good bike stuff and to donate 2.) Employs get free coffee! This is absolutly great since I'm probably their best customer as it is. Too bad they're losing some good business. As far as fundraising goes, I'm going to have to do somthing different but we still have a few months. Peace.

Baby it's cold outside

2008-01-26T18:37:00.000-08:00

Lesson #4(Lessons 1-3 in Previous Posts): Do not eat 3.5 PB& J sandwiches and attempt to run directly after.

Good news: I’m going to get my road bike from Bike and Build here pretty soon!

So I’ve been back in school for over a week now and it’s been crazy. At the begining of other semesters I just kind of ease into the work but this semester I had to jump right in. It will be one of my toughest semesters because of all the biology classes but I guess I’ll learn a lot. Plus I have this summer to look forward to.

I got in a pretty long bike ride and it’s a lot different than riding back home. Here in Arkadelphia, Arkansas if you’re not riding down a hill then you’re going up. It makes for great training though and once I get an actual road bike (I ride a hybrid) it will be twice as fun. But that was the last ride in a really long time because a few days ago I just discovered that my tire is completely flat. This wouldn’t be a problem if I had a tube but I used my last one a few days ago and the nearest bike shop here is about a 2 hour drive. There’s no way I’m going to make that anytime soon because of this crazy schedule. Not the best preparation on my part. So now I’ve just been doing a whole lot of running to at least stay in shape. Other than that I’m just trying to keep my head above water and get back into school/study mode.

Stupid rut

2008-01-18T18:02:00.000-08:00

Well fundraising is not going very well right now. I'm trying to get a job so I can contribute to the cause. I'm also working on getting in my school newspaper so I can spread awareness. But I'm in a rut and I need to think of something creative. But what?

Antarctica

2008-01-13T17:35:00.000-08:00

So I just got through taking the most amazing shower of my life. You may be wondering why or most importantly what this has to do with biking across America and building houses along the way. Well I just got back from a mission trip in New Orleans. We spent a week building houses for Habitat for Humanity in the 9th ward(the place most devastated by hurricane Katrina). So on the first day after being gone all day building, we came back dirty and tired, and proceeded to take a nice, hot shower. I quickly realized, after hearing the unpleasant screams of my team coming from the showers that this dream would not become a reality. No hot water. This wasn't just cold like it would be if there were no hot water heater. This cold was like someone had imported ice from Antarctica and proceeded to melt it above our heads. But what I'm getting at here is that I learned an important lesson while standing under the shower fighting off frostbite. Aside from good ol' fashion character development one can only obtain from having freezing cold water dumped on their head, I learned to put things in perspective. Here I am complaining about a little cold shower while others have lost their, valuables, homes, and even loved ones to hurricane Katrina and Rita. It's the least I can do to sacrifice a little comfort to help those who have lost so much more.
Building houses for a week has been an insightful and cool experience. I learned how to hammer quite well without the sacrifice of my thumb. My fingers were less fortunate. I also met many neat people who were just as driven to help out. Although Katrina hit more than 2 years ago the damage is still evident in much of New Orleans. Countless houses that were once homes are now just sitting there because the damage is too great for anyone to occupy them. There's still so much sand everywhere and some roads in residential sections aren't paved. But it's getting better due to the work of many volunteer organizations and the people who help out. The only downside to all of this is I haven't been able to run or bike for a whole week. I'm not to worried because the building, hammering, climbing, cutting, falling off ladders, etc. isn't exactly a walk in the park physically. But today was my first day back running and I must say it felt great. All in all I gained some insight, some building knowledge, and had fun helping out with habitat for humanity.

Lactic Acid = :(

2008-01-04T13:37:00.000-08:00

So I've gotten a lot of things done since the last time I've posted. First, I finally got some biking shorts! I'm so excited but I must say they will take some getting used to. It's not like it makes me feel like superman in tights or anything. I've been anxious to go for a spin in my brand new shorts but it's been cold so I've mainly stuck with running. But I did get in a 27 mile bike ride for my second time. That might not seem like much but it's a huge thing to me because I'm not quite used to this whole cycling thing yet. But I will be. And I'm glad to say that it was much better this time around because sitting down on our furniture was a lot less painful. I think the best thing about the ride was that I did not get chased by one single dog!
The next really cool thing that happened was that a couple of newspapers came and interviewed me. I just told them how awesome bike and build is and how I want to help with affordable housing. It was neat. So thanks for all of y'all who read the newspaper and are now checking out my blog. Well that's about it except to say Happy belated new years.

2007-12-30T13:12:00.000-08:00

Wow Texas has the weirdest weather ever. If you don't like the weather here wait a day. Yesterday I had to bundle in layers just to help my dad on the farm. Today I just got through laying out in the middle of the pasture on our farm in a bathing suit while reading a book. This is December! I only have a few days left before I go back to school so I thought I would relax a little. But before I go back to school I plan to go with my college campus ministers team to New Orleans and help build houses for Habitat for Humanity. Doing this will prepare me for all the houses we're going to build this summer. I'll learn how to put shingles on the roof, sheet rock on the walls, and caulk in the cracks. Better yet I'll learn how to swing a hammer without injuring myself or those around me. Well since it's so awesome outside I think I'll go for a bike ride now. Peace.

What I'm doing

2007-12-28T20:23:00.000-08:00

So I've decided to trade in my running shoes this summer for a new set of wheels. And I'm not talking about a car. I'm biking across the U.S this summer (Providence, RI to Seattle, WA) with an organization called Bike and Build. Me and about 30 other people my age (who come from all different parts of America) are doing this to help with affordable housing. We are required to raise $4,000 but it will go to help the cause. What's really cool is we get to stop along the way several times to build houses for people. So I'm really excited about all this and if you have any more questions just ask me. I'll probably add more stuff about this in the future.

So today I decided to bike instead of run. It's getting closer to time so if I want to be ready for this then I really need to start biking a whole lot more and give my running shoes a little break. I thought I'd do a 2 hr. bike ride because it was nice outside. I realized the hard way that 1.) dogs hate bikers with a passion and will try bite despite trying to talk to them in that little doggie voice 2.) Hills are fun. The downhills at least :) and 3.) I really need to buy some bike shorts very soon. It hurts to sit. But it was a really fun ride and I think I'll have a good time training for this thing.